Alia Beard Rau

The Republic | azcentral.com

Disability advocates are protesting Arizona legislation they describe as shocking, insulting and discriminatory.

Senate Bill 1284 would allow an individual to file a discrimination lawsuit alleging a business is not in compliance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act only after first having a lawyer give the business written notice and then giving the business 60 days to come into compliance.

"The disability community vehemently opposes this bill," said Phil Pangrazio, Ability360 president and CEO, who uses a wheelchair as a result of a spinal-cord injury. "It encourages business to continue denying access to individuals with disabilities until someone notices."

The bill passed the Senate Government Committee 4-3 with Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposing it. It now advances to the full Senate for consideration.

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, sponsored the bill. He said the intent is to prevent lawyers from trying to use allegations of inaccessibility to shake down business owners. He said attorneys have filed hundreds of lawsuits in Arizona and California alleging hotels aren't in compliance.

Kavanagh said there have been situations where individuals will call hotels, ask if they have certain accessibility items such as a swimming-pool lift or toilet-paper rolls at a certain height, threaten a lawsuit if they say no, and then offer to go away if the hotels pay up.

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Kavanagh said he has an acquaintance who manages a small hotel that was recently sued because the pool doesn't have a wheelchair lift.

"He's being sued for $5,000 because of the mental anguish suffered by a victim who never even checked into the hotel," he said. "That's the game. Lawyers are extorting money from hotels for very minor violations."

Kavanagh said the bill still allows lawsuits to correct deficiencies, "but without being a cash cow for lawyers who apparently seem to be interested in making this a revenue raiser." The bill would prohibit an individual or his or her attorney from demanding money from a business before filing a lawsuit.

Pangrazio said businesses are being sued because they continue to violate a federal law that's been on the books for 25 years, a law that assures individuals with disabilities have access to the same businesses and services everyone else does.

"Senator Kavanagh thinks having access to a pool lift or a toilet-roll dispenser is a trivial matter, but I don't find that a trivial matter," he said. "Why are the civil rights of Arizonans with disabilities being targeted? It's shameful. It's an insult."

Fifteen individuals and disability-rights organizations registered opposition to the bill. No one registered as supporting the bill or testified in favor of it during the committee hearing.

Jennifer Longdon, who was paralyzed in a shooting several years ago, called the bill anther solution in search of a problem.

"People with disabilities aren't asking for anything special," she said. "Businesses are asking for this carve-out, asking to be treated specially."

She said it would be outrageous to require a 60-day delay to file a discrimination lawsuit for someone who was refused service because she was a woman or Black. This is the same thing, she said.

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Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, was among the Democrats on the Senate Government Committee who voted against the bill.

"This community is being targeted by a very mean-spirited bill," Quezada said. "It's cruel. It discriminates. It takes us several steps backward in the way we as a community deal with our disabled community members."

He said Kavanagh did not consult with the disabled community before introducing the bill.

"To make individuals jump through hoops before seeking justice is unfair," Quezada said. "The ADA is there to allow services to be provided to all in an equal and fair manner."​