Would the ADA be considered an unfunded mandate?
I think the answer to your question depends more on your respondent’s political leanings than any actual factual information.
I think most conservatives would see it as an unfunded mandate – non-government entities such as businesses are required to construct expensive “accommodations” because of government policy – while liberals would view it as a logical, fair and equable solution to a long-standing problem.
Maybe I’m not fairly representing either side’s position OR the question may not even divide on liberal/conservative lines. But the point is that the facts in both cases are the same – what differs is how you choose to view them.
My understanding of “unfunded mandate” is more of the sort where for example the Federal gov-mint makes laws requiring states to do stuff, but doesn’t give them the $$ to do it. The ADA isn’t quite the same thing, in that it mandates how businesses operate. This is done all the time. You may as well call laws requiring workers comp insurance, FICA, and/or unemployment insurance, or pollution standards, waste disposal standards, OSHA standards, etc. ‘unfunded mandates’. (and I guess there will be some people somewhere doing so)
My understanding, however, of the ADA is that it requires business to make reasonable accomondations so that a person who has a disability but can perform the essential job functions is not screened out/fired because of the disability.
Examples IRL I’ve seen of the ADA at work:
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A small non profit (mine) purchased an adapter for the phone to allow an employee who had some hearing loss to perform task requiring the phone. total cost: $30.
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Another small non profit (not mine) had to install new door handles for the doors at the agency to allow the director, who utilized an electic wheelchair, to open the doors (note, it would have been easier for him if they’d installed automatic doors, but the cost would have been a great deal more) total cost to the agency: less than $100.
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A factory who had been sued for discrimination (height related) was required to provide some thing to stand on for short persons to allow them to be tall enough to utilize the machines on a production line. Cost per unit: less than $75.
The point was/is that with reasonable accomondations, the people involved could (or could continue) to perform necessary job functions. Please note in both the 1 and 2nd case scenarios, there existed other, more expensive accomodations that could have been done (a new phone system, automatic doors), but were not required.
A couple of other instances of the ADA in action, when a company I worked for moved to building they had just bought:
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[li]In the secondary suite, the existing sink for the kitchen was facing the wrong way for use by where we’d planned the kitchen. Instead of just removing the wall and cabinets behind it and turning the sink around, we had to lower the counter and sink and make sure there was enough room under the sink for someone in a wheelchair to roll up to it.[/li][li]The main suite had glass doors with a digital keypad entry. During business hours, the doors were unlocked. But after hours, to leave you had to press a button on the left side of the doorframe. But that wasn’t accomodating for those with disabilities. So a motion sensor had to be installed to do the same thing as the button. And since able folks would walk under the motion sensor to get to the button, the doors would open for them with no need for the button in the first place.[/li]
To top it off: when I was helping to move equipment into this new suite after hours, the door had closed and locked with nobody inside. The head of admin wasn’t there; she was the only one who knew the entry codes at the time. But instead of waking her up, we just took a piece of long cardboard, stuck it in the gap between the doors, and wiggled it. The motion sensor then opened the doors for us. Now there’s security!
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