Core Provisions: This Act would amend the ADA to respond to three 1999 Supreme Court decisions requiring courts to consider “mitigating measures” to determine whether an individual is “disabled” under the ADA. The elimination of the “mitigating measures” test would mean that the decision of whether individuals are physically or mentally impaired could not take into account the corrective effects of medication or adaptive devices. The Act would also remove the requirement that a disability “substantially limit” the claimant’s ability to perform “major life activities,” and allows the employer to argue as a defense to a charge of discrimination that the claimant is not a “qualified individual with a disability.”

Status: H.R.3195 was introduced in the House by Rep. Hoyer (D-MD) on July 26, 2007, and hearings were held by the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on October 4, 2007. In the Senate, S.1881 was introduced by Sen. Harkin (D-IA) on July 26, 2007, and hearings were held by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on November 15, 2007 (see Hearings on the Hill, Page 2). H.R.3195 currently has 235 co-sponsors, S.1881 currently has two co-sponsors.