II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2481 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the credit for 

expenditures to provide access to disabled individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2021 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mr. BOOKER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand 

the credit for expenditures to provide access to disabled 

individuals, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disabled Access Credit 

5 Expansion Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF CREDIT FOR EXPENDITURES TO 

7 PROVIDE ACCESS TO DISABLED INDIVID8 UALS. 

9 (a) INCREASE IN DOLLAR LIMITATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 44 

2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘$10,250’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,500’’. 

4 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 44 of 

5 such Code is amended by redesignating subsection 

6 (e) as subsection (f) and by inserting after sub7 section (d) the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(e) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 

10 year beginning after 2022, the $20,500 amount in 

11 subsection (a) shall be increased by an amount equal 

12 to— 

13 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

14 ‘‘(B) the cost of living adjustment deter15 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

16 year in which the taxable year begins, deter17 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2021’ for 

18 ‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

19 thereof. 

20 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—Any amount determined 

21 under paragraph (1) which is not a multiple of $50 

22 shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of 

23 $50.’’. 

24 (b) REMOVAL OF EXPENDITURE FLOOR.—Sub25 section (a) of section 44 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986, as amended by subsection (a)(1), is further amend2 ed by striking ‘‘exceed $250 but’’. 

3 (c) INCREASE IN GROSS RECEIPTS LIMITATION.— 

4 Subparagraph (A) of section 44(b)(1) of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘$2,500,000’’. 

7 (d) ELIGIBLE ACCESS EXPENDITURES.—Subpara8 graph (A) of section 44(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue 

9 Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including any dig10 ital, Internet, or telecommunications services provided by 

11 the business)’’ after ‘‘business’’. 

12 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 December 31, 2021. 

15 SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN16 VOLVING DISABILITY RIGHTS. 

17 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

18 (1) Congress does not directly appropriate 

19 funds for the ADA Mediation Program of the Dis20 ability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of 

21 the Department of Justice. 

22 (2) Voluntary mediation, under section 514 of 

23 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

24 U.S.C. 12212), of disputes between individuals and 

25 entities covered by the Americans with Disabilities 


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1 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) requires spe2 cific expertise. 

3 (3) Though over 7,000 cases have been referred 

4 to the ADA Mediation Program since its inception, 

5 with over 70 percent being successfully resolved, 

6 complainants have experienced slow response times 

7 and a lack of effective engagement with the pro8 gram. 

9 (4) There is little transparency, oversight, or 

10 accountability regarding the administration of the 

11 ADA Mediation Program, or the experience of medi12 ators or parties participating in mediation. 

13 (5) To best serve the disability community, and 

14 entities covered by that Act, the ADA Mediation 

15 Program should be able to use funds to increase per16 sonnel and provide training concerning the program. 

17 (b) ADA MEDIATION PROGRAM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

19 carry out an ADA Mediation Program (referred to 

20 in this section as the ‘‘Program’’). 

21 (2) DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES.—In carrying 

22 out the Program, the Attorney General— 

23 (A) shall facilitate voluntary mediation to 

24 resolve disputes arising under the Americans 


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1 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

2 et seq.); 

3 (B) may hire or enter into contracts with 

4 personnel for the Program, including increasing 

5 the number of such personnel beyond the num6 ber of individuals who provided services through 

7 the Program on the date of enactment of this 

8 section; and 

9 (C) provide training for mediators who 

10 provide services through the Program. 

11 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 

13 be appropriated to the appropriations account 

14 of the Department of Justice appropriated 

15 under the heading ‘‘FEES AND EXPENSES OF

16 WITNESSES’’ under the heading ‘‘LEGAL AC17 TIVITIES’’, to carry out this section, $1,000,000 

18 (in addition to any other amounts appropriated 

19 to that account) for fiscal year 2022. 

20 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds ap21 propriated under subparagraph (A) may be 

22 used to pay for obligations incurred through the 

23 Program prior to the date of enactment of this 

24 section. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 

3 the Attorney General shall submit a report to the Com4 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 

5 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives including 

6 information for the previous fiscal year regarding: 

7 (1) the minimum, maximum, and median time 

8 between the initial filing of complaints and contact 

9 with the ADA Mediation Program; 

10 (2) the minimum, maximum, and median time 

11 between the initial filing of complaints and the first 

12 date of mediation; 

13 (3) the minimum, maximum, and median time 

14 required to resolve disputes from the initial filing of 

15 complaints; 

16 (4) the number of staff (full-time equivalents) 

17 dedicated to the program, including the number of 

18 mediators and caseworkers; 

19 (5) the caseload for mediators and caseworkers 

20 involved in carrying out the program; 

21 (6) the percentage of cases successfully resolved 

22 through mediation; 

23 (7) the percentage of cases referred to inves24 tigation and litigation within the Department of 

25 Justice; 


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1 (8) the percentage of cases referred to other 

2 Federal agencies (and which agencies); 

3 (9) trends in the nature of complaints and reso4 lutions; 

5 (10) whether there were repeated or numerous 

6 complaints against a single or specific entity or insti7 tution, and whether those cases were investigated or 

8 litigated; 

9 (11) the number of complaints directed at the 

10 program, such as lack of accommodation or lack of 

11 responsiveness and engagement; and 

12 (12) other information deemed relevant by the 

13 Attorney General. 

14 SEC. 4. ADA INFORMATION LINE DATA COLLECTION RE15 PORT. 

16 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) The ADA Information Line receives hun18 dreds of calls per week, and does not typically collect 

19 data about the kinds of calls it receives. 

20 (2) The ADA Information Line takes calls from 

21 a variety of individuals and entities interested in the 

22 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, including— 

23 (A) employers covered by such Act; 

24 (B) architects and others who work with 

25 such employers; 


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1 (C) public entities, such as schools and 

2 public service providers; 

3 (D) individuals with disabilities; and 

4 (E) entities that provide public accom5 modations. 

6 (3) ADA.gov provides many resources to indi7 viduals and entities, public or private, looking for in8 formation on such Act. 

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘ADA Information Line’’ means 

11 the toll-free line operated by the Attorney General to 

12 provide information and materials to the public 

13 about the requirements of the Americans with Dis14 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), in15 cluding regulations issued under the Act and tech16 nical assistance in accordance with section 507 of 

17 the Act (42 U.S.C. 12206); and 

18 (2) the term ‘‘disability’’, with respect to an in19 dividual, has the meaning given such term in section 

20 3 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12102). 

21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub23 mit a report to each committee of Congress— 

24 (1) outlining the kinds of calls the ADA Infor25 mation Line receives; 


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1 (2) detailing the efforts of the Department of 

2 Justice to educate individuals and entities about the 

3 existence of the ADA Information Line; and 

4 (3) providing recommendations on improve5 ments that can be made to provide additional sup6 port to individuals with disabilities, and entities cov7 ered by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 

8 seeking information on such Act. 

Æ 


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