II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2290 

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 25, 2019 

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

Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. BOOKER) 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’’. 

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 2020, 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 2019’ 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) INCREASE IN GROSS RECEIPTS LIMITATION.— 

25 Subparagraph (A) of section 44(b)(1) of the Internal RevVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2290.IS S2290

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1 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘$2,500,000’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 December 31, 2019. 

6 SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN7 VOLVING DISABILITY RIGHTS. 

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

9 (1) Congress does not directly appropriate 

10 funds for the ADA Mediation Program of the Dis11 ability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of 

12 the Department of Justice. 

13 (2) The Civil Rights Division receives funds for 

14 the ADA Mediation Program from the Office of Al15 ternative Dispute Resolution of the Office of Legal 

16 Policy of the Department of Justice. The Office of 

17 Alternative Dispute Resolution receives appropria18 tions through the appropriations account of the De19 partment of Justice appropriated under the heading 

20 ‘‘FEES AND EXPENSES OF WITNESSES’’ under the 

21 heading ‘‘LEGAL ACTIVITIES’’ (referred to in this 

22 subsection as the ‘‘FEW appropriations account’’). 

23 (3) The total amount appropriated to the Office 

24 of Alternative Dispute Resolution through the FEW 


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1 appropriations account for fiscal year 2019 is 

2 $4,500,000. 

3 (4) Out of this amount, the Office of Alter4 native Dispute Resolution funds mediation for all of 

5 the litigating units within the Department of Jus6 tice. 

7 (5) The Civil Rights Division requests funding 

8 for the ADA Mediation Program on a quarterly 

9 basis and is limited in its ability to use funds to in10 crease personnel and provide training concerning the 

11 program. 

12 (6) Voluntary mediation, under section 514 of 

13 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

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

15 entities covered by the Americans with Disabilities 

16 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) requires spe17 cific expertise. 

18 (7) To best serve the disability community, and 

19 entities covered by that Act, the ADA Mediation 

20 Program should be able to use funds to increase per21 sonnel and provide training concerning the program. 

22 (b) ADA MEDIATION PROGRAM.— 

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

24 carry out an ADA Mediation Program (referred to 

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


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1 (2) DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES.—In carrying 

2 out the Program, the Attorney General— 

3 (A) shall facilitate voluntary mediation to 

4 resolve disputes arising under the Americans 

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

6 et seq.); 

7 (B) may hire or enter into contracts with 

8 personnel for the Program, including increasing 

9 the number of such personnel beyond the num10 ber of individuals who provided services through 

11 the Program on the date of enactment of this 

12 section; and 

13 (C) provide training for mediators who 

14 provide services through the Program. 

15 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

17 be appropriated to the appropriations account 

18 of the Department of Justice appropriated 

19 under the heading ‘‘FEES AND EXPENSES OF

20 WITNESSES’’ under the heading ‘‘LEGAL AC21 TIVITIES’’, to carry out this section, $1,000,000 

22 (in addition to any other amounts appropriated 

23 to that account) for fiscal year 2021. 

24 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds ap25 propriated under subparagraph (A) may be 


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1 used to pay for obligations incurred through the 

2 Program prior to the date of enactment of this 

3 section. 

4 SEC. 4. ADA INFORMATION LINE DATA COLLECTION RE5 PORT. 

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

7 (1) As of June 28, 2019, during fiscal year 

8 2019, accessibility specialists have answered approxi9 mately 23,855 calls to the ADA Information Line. 

10 (2) The ADA Information Line receives on av11 erage approximately 600 calls per week, and does 

12 not typically collect data about the kinds of calls it 

13 receives. 

14 (3) The ADA Information Line takes calls from 

15 a variety of individuals and entities interested in the 

16 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, including— 

17 (A) employers covered by such Act; 

18 (B) architects and others who work with 

19 such employers; 

20 (C) public entities, such as schools and 

21 public service providers; 

22 (D) individuals with disabilities; and 

23 (E) entities that provide public accom24 modations. 


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1 (4) ADA.gov provides many resources to indi2 viduals and entities, public or private, looking for in3 formation on such Act. 

4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

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

7 provide information and materials to the public 

8 about the requirements of the Americans with Dis9 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), in10 cluding regulations issued under the Act and tech11 nical assistance in accordance with section 507 of 

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

13 (2) the term ‘‘disability’’, with respect to an in14 dividual, has the meaning given such term in section 

15 3 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12102). 

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

17 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub18 mit a report to each committee of Congress— 

19 (1) outlining the kinds of calls the ADA Infor20 mation Line receives; 

21 (2) detailing the efforts of the Department of 

22 Justice to educate individuals and entities about the 

23 existence of the ADA Information Line; and 

24 (3) providing recommendations on improve25 ments that can be made to provide additional supVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2290.IS S2290

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1 port to individuals with disabilities, and entities cov2 ered by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 

3 seeking information on such Act. 

Æ 


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