On September 17, 2008, the House passed the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) (S. 3406) by voice vote.  The White House has indicated that President Bush will sign the bill.

Passed in the Senate by unanimous consent on September 11, 2008, this legislation would overturn a number of controversial U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have narrowed the scope of the ADA.  The legislation purports to return the ADA to its original scope as intended by Congress in 1990 by prohibiting courts from considering “mitigating measures” such as medication, prosthetics, and assistive technology in determining whether an individual is “disabled” under the ADA.  However, S. 3406 does permit consideration of standard vision correction achieved through normal glasses or contact lenses.

A person is considered disabled under the ADA if they suffer from “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual.” Although the new legislation retains the previously-debated “substantially limits” language, the bill directs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to change the current regulations defining “substantially limits” as “significantly restricted” because such regulations are “inconsistent with congressional intent, by expressing too high a standard.”

A statement released by the White House after the House vote, indicated that the president “looks forward to signing the ADAAA into law.” If enacted, the ADA Amendments Act would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.