SLS 18RS-622 ORIGINAL
2018 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 13
BY SENATOR CARTER
CONGRESS. Memorializes Congress to pass the Disability Integration Act of 2017.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To memorialize the Congress of the United States to take such actions as are necessary to
3 pass the Disability Integration Act of 2017.
4 WHEREAS, the Disability Integration Act of 2017 has been introduced as S.910 and
5 H.R.2472 in the One Hundred Fifteenth United States Congress; and
6 WHEREAS, in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (herein referred
7 to as the ''ADA''), Congress recognized that ''historically, society has tended to isolate and
8 segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some improvements, such forms of
9 discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive
10 social problem'' and intended that the ADA assure ''full participation'' and ''independent
11 living'' for individuals with disabilities by addressing ''discrimination against individuals
12 with disabilities [that] persists in critical areas'', including institutionalization; and
13 WHEREAS, while Congress expected that the ADA's integration mandate would be
14 interpreted in a manner that ensures that individuals who are eligible for institutional
15 placement are able to exercise a right to community-based long-term services and supports,
16 that expectation has not been fulfilled; and
17 WHEREAS, the holdings of the Supreme Court in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581
18 (1999), and companion cases, have clearly articulated that individuals with disabilities have
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1 a civil right under the ADA to participate in society as equal citizens; however, many states
2 still do not provide sufficient community-based long-term services and supports to
3 individuals with disabilities to end segregation in institutions; and
4 WHEREAS, the right to live in the community is necessary for the exercise of the
5 civil rights that the ADA was intended to secure for all individuals with disabilities and the
6 lack of adequate community-based services and supports has imperiled the civil rights of all
7 individuals with disabilities, and has undermined the very promise of the ADA; therefore,
8 it is necessary to recognize in statute a robust and fully articulated right to community living;
9 and
10 WHEREAS, states, with a few exceptions, continue to approach decisions regarding
11 long-term services and supports from social welfare and budgetary perspectives, but for the
12 promise of the ADA to be fully realized, states must approach these decisions from a civil
13 rights perspective; and
14 WHEREAS, states have not consistently planned to ensure sufficient services and
15 supports for individuals with disabilities, including those with the most significant
16 disabilities, to enable individuals with disabilities to live in the most integrated setting and,
17 as a result, many individuals with disabilities who reside in institutions are prevented from
18 residing in the community and individuals with disabilities who are not in institutions find
19 themselves at risk of institutional placement; and
20 WHEREAS, the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary institutionalization
21 denies individuals with disabilities the opportunity to live and participate on an equal basis
22 in the community and costs the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary spending
23 related to perpetuating dependency and unnecessary confinement.
24 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes
25 the Congress of the United States to take such actions as are necessary to pass the Disability
26 Integration Act of 2017.
27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted
28 to the secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of
29 Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
30 Congress.
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
SCR 13 Original 2018 Regular Session Carter
Memorializes Congress to take such actions as are necessary to pass the Disability
Integration Act of 2017.
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