I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5859 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to provide 
grants to protection and advocacy systems to advocate for individuals 
with disabilities to access transportation, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 
Ms. WILSON of Florida (for herself, Mr. MOLINARO, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
Ms. TITUS, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. ROSS, 
Mr. MOULTON, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. COHEN, 
Mr. STANTON, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. CARSON, and Mr. 
SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 
program to provide grants to protection and advocacy 
systems to advocate for individuals with disabilities to 
access transportation, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Assist-
ance for Individuals with Disabilities Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Transportation is significantly more dif-
ficult for Americans with disabilities. According to 
the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 3.6 million 
Americans with travel-limiting disabilities do not 
leave their homes because of a lack of accessible 
transportation. 
(2) According to the American Association of 
People with Disabilities, people with disabilities are 
twice as likely to struggle with procuring transpor-
tation than those who are not disabled, which limits 
access to medical care, employment, and everyday 
activities. 
(3) The Developmental Disabilities Assistance 
and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘DD Act’’) assures that ‘‘individuals 
with developmental disabilities and their families 
participate in the design of and have access to need-
ed community services, individualized supports, and 
other forms of assistance that promote self-deter-
mination, independence, productivity, and integra-
tion and inclusion in all facets of community life’’. 
(4) The DD Act requires States and territories 
to establish a protection and advocacy system that 
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protects and advocates the rights of individuals with 
disabilities. 
(5) Even though the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act requires all State and local governments to 
make public services accessible for people with dis-
abilities, protection and advocacy systems continu-
ously receive reports of ineffective and inadequate 
services from county and city paratransit services. 
These systems work to address these issues by pro-
viding legally based advocacy resources for those im-
pacted. 
(6) In 2017, protection and advocacy systems 
received over 550 individual transportation related 
cases and in 2020 received over 2000 individual 
cases. 
(7) Currently, there are 9 established protection 
and advocacy programs administered by several Fed-
eral agencies, including the Department of Edu-
cation, the Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices, and the Social Security Administration. 
(8) There is currently no similar program ad-
ministered by the Department of Transportation to 
ensure that protection and advocacy systems have 
dedicated funding to serve individuals who face 
issues related to transportation access. 
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SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE 
ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall establish a program to award grants to protec-
tion and advocacy systems to advocate for individuals with 
disabilities to access transportation. 
(b) GRANTS.— 
(1) AWARD.—In carrying out subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall select 10 protection and advocacy 
systems to receive a grant under this section. 
(2) GRANT TERM.—The term of a grant award-
ed under this section shall be 5 fiscal years. 
(3) AMOUNT.—During the 5-year term of a 
grant awarded under this section, the Secretary shall 
distribute $110,000 for each fiscal year to the recipi-
ent of such grant. 
(4) 
CARRYOVER.—Any 
amount 
distributed 
under paragraph (3) to a grant recipient for a fiscal 
year that remains unobligated at the end of a such 
fiscal year shall remain available to such recipient 
for obligation during the subsequent fiscal year. 
(c) SUNSET; TERMINATION OF GRANTS.— 
(1) SUNSET.—The authority of the Secretary to 
award grants under this section shall terminate on 
the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
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(2) TERMINATION OF GRANTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may ter-
minate a grant awarded under this section be-
fore the end of the grant term under subsection 
(b)(2) if the Secretary determines there is good 
cause to terminate such grant, including— 
(i) misuse of grant funds; and 
(ii) redesignation of the recipient of 
such grant pursuant to section 143(a)(4) 
of the Developmental Disabilities Assist-
ance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000. 
(B) AWARD OF NEW GRANT.—If the Sec-
retary terminates a grant under subparagraph 
(A), the Secretary shall award a new grant 
under this section to a different protection and 
advocacy system. 
(d) AUTHORITY.—A protection and advocacy system 
that receives a grant awarded under this section shall have 
the same authorities, including access to records, as such 
system would have under subtitle C of title I of the Devel-
opmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 
2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.). 
(e) SELECTION.—In selecting the protection and ad-
vocacy systems to receive grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall— 
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(1) select at least 3 protection and advocacy 
systems located in States in which at least 1 per-
sistent poverty county (as defined by the Secretary 
of the Treasury) is located; and 
(2) select at least 3 protection and advocacy 
systems that are located in States in which— 
(A) the percentage of individuals aged 65 
or older is greater than 18 percent; and 
(B) the percentage of individuals with a 
disability is greater than 16 percent. 
(f) REPORTS.—Each recipient of a grant under this 
section shall submit to an office designated by the Sec-
retary an annual report documenting the work such grant 
recipient has done to address the barriers to accessing 
transportation for individuals with disabilities. 
(g) PROGRAM INCOME.—Any income generated from 
advocating for individuals with disabilities to access trans-
portation with a grant under this section for a fiscal year 
shall— 
(1) remain available to the grant recipient until 
expended and be considered an addition to the 
grant; and 
(2) only be used to provide advocacy to enable 
individuals with disabilities to access transportation. 
(h) TRAINING GRANT.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—During each fiscal year in 
which a protection and advocacy system advocates 
for individuals with disabilities to access transpor-
tation with a grant under this section, the Secretary 
shall award a grant to 1 eligible organization to pro-
vide training and technical assistance to such protec-
tion and advocacy system. 
(2) GRANT
AMOUNT.—Each grant awarded 
under paragraph (1) shall be in the amount of 
$100,000. 
(3) ELIGIBLE
ORGANIZATION
DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘‘eligible organization’’ 
means a national organization with extensive knowl-
edge of protection and advocacy systems. 
(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this Act $1,200,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 
through 2028. 
(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM.—The 
term ‘‘protection and advocacy system’’ means a 
protection and advocacy system established under 
subtitle C of title I of the Developmental Disabilities 
Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 
U.S.C. 15041 et seq.) that has— 
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(A) demonstrated monitoring experience; 
and 
(B) demonstrated knowledge of accessi-
bility barriers facing individuals with disabilities 
in accessing transportation. 
(2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev-
eral States, the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Is-
lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other ter-
ritory or possession of the United States. 
Æ 
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