Assembly Republicans Put Selves First at Expense of Disability Accommodations for Legislator
Republican rule change includes ties accommodations to latest partisan power grab

Representative Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) released the following statement in response to today’s consideration by the state Assembly of Assembly Resolution 12. AR 12 ties disabilities accommodations for a member of the Assembly to other rule changes that consolidate power of the majority party, including allowing unlimited attempts to override a veto and giving sweeping new powers to the Speaker.

“Accommodating individuals with disabilities serving in the Legislature is an issue of basic respect and should not be treated as a political matter up for debate. Yet, Speaker Vos has spent months denying our colleague, Rep. Jimmy Anderson, and his constituents the respect they deserve.

Speaker Vos’s petty refusal to provide the same reasonable accommodations to our colleague that we would expect and require of any employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act has been a mind-boggling embarrassment to himself and our entire institution. Now his motive is clear – He was unwilling to do the right thing unless there was something to be gained for himself and his caucus.

Republicans have treated what should be nonnegotiable – accommodating the full participation of individuals with disabilities – as a negotiation. Their refusal to act on Rep. Anderson’s request for reasonable accommodation without getting something for themselves in return is nothing short of shameful.

Instead of holding ourselves accountable to the same standards under the Americans for Disabilities Act that we require of all other employers in the state, Republicans have used this as an opportunity to hide their naked power grab and change the rules for their own benefit. Speaker Vos and Assembly Republicans shamefully put themselves first in a flagrant act of disrespect for our colleague and other individuals with disabilities.”

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