[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5859 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






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 Committee 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transportation Assistance for 
Individuals with Disabilities Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Transportation is significantly more difficult 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 transportation 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 referred to as the ``DD 
        Act'') assures that ``individuals with developmental 
        disabilities and their families participate in the design of 
        and have access to needed community services, individualized 
        supports, and other forms of assistance that promote self-
        determination, independence, productivity, and integration and 
        inclusion in all facets of community life''.
            (4) The DD Act requires States and territories to establish 
        a protection and advocacy system that protects and advocates 
        the rights of individuals with disabilities.
            (5) Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act 
        requires all State and local governments to make public 
        services accessible for people with disabilities, protection 
        and advocacy systems continuously receive reports of 
        ineffective and inadequate services from county and city 
        paratransit services. These systems work to address these 
        issues by providing legally based advocacy resources for those 
        impacted.
            (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 Federal agencies, 
        including the Department of Education, the Department of Health 
        and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration.
            (8) There is currently no similar program administered 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.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO 
              TRANSPORTATION.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Transportation shall establish 
a program to award grants to protection 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 awarded 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 recipient 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.
            (2) Termination of grants.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary may terminate a 
                grant awarded under this section before 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 Assistance and Bill 
                        of Rights Act of 2000.
                    (B) Award of new grant.--If the Secretary 
                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 Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 
Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.).
    (e) Selection.--In selecting the protection and advocacy systems to 
receive grants under this section, the Secretary shall--
            (1) select at least 3 protection and advocacy systems 
        located in States in which at least 1 persistent 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 Secretary 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 transportation 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.--
            (1) In general.--During each fiscal year in which a 
        protection and advocacy system advocates for individuals with 
        disabilities to access transportation with a grant under this 
        section, the Secretary shall award a grant to 1 eligible 
        organization to provide training and technical assistance to 
        such protection 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 knowledge 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--
                    (A) demonstrated monitoring experience; and
                    (B) demonstrated knowledge of accessibility 
                barriers facing individuals with disabilities in 
                accessing transportation.
            (2) State.--The term ``State'' means the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other 
        territory or possession of the United States.
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