Senate Passes AT Bill

Senate Passes AT Bill

In yesterday's CEC Weekly Update, we reported to you that the Senate had introduced compromise legislation to reauthorize the Assistive Technology Act. Hours later, after CEC had put out its Update, the Senate passed the bill under Unanimous Consent. The House is expected to pass the bill during the first week of October.

What You Can Do: Because the House will likely consider this bill soon, please call your Member in the House of Representatives on October 4 and urge him or her to support passage of AT reauthorization legislation, HR 4278.

CEC supports the bill and played an active role in making numerous recommendations for AT reauthorization, both via its Technology and Media (TAM) Division and as an invited member of a disability-group roundtable.

The bill the Senate passed, HR 4278, combines features of HR 4278 as passed by the House in June and a bill previously introduced in the Senate. The Senate and House are working to pass this new, non-controversial compromise bill so that AT reauthorization legislation can be signed into law without having the bill go to a conference committee.

CEC and TAM recommendations included in the bill are:

Making AT legislation a regular authorization. The sunset provision has been waived, which ensures that funding will continuously be made available for AT programs.
Including students with disabilities in the required state transition assistance programs.
Including universal design principles that are usable by people with the widest possible range of functional capabilities
Continuing state protection and advocacy programs.

Some other features of the new compromise bill include:

The 60/40 and 70/30 split in funding for state activities.
A minimum state grant of $410,000.
Elimination of personnel preparation centers from the Senate bill.

CEC supports the bill and is pleased that the House and Senate are working in a bi-cameral, bi-partisan fashion to move assistive technology reauthorization along a fast track, without the need for going to a conference committee before the bill is signed into law.

To view the Senate-passed bill, click http://thomas.loc.gov/, enter "HR 4278" in the bill number search, then go to "Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by the Senate" (item #5).

Daniel Blair
Senior Director for Public Policy
Council for Exceptional Children
toll free 1-800-224-6830 x403
email: danb@cec.sped.org