HBA-MPA H.B. 1901 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1901 By: Mowery Licensing & Administrative Procedures 3/30/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In 1990, the U.S. Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the purpose of providing a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Subchapter III of ADA provides protection for disabled Americans against discrimination in public accommodations and services: notably, by requiring that the owner of such an accommodation create and maintain physical premises in such a way as to allow disabled people full enjoyment of such facilities and services. Article 9102 (Architectural Barriers), V.T.C.S., provides similar protections for Texas residents. These statutes are only frameworks. Detailed regulations have been drafted that help regulators in the field evaluate public accommodations on a day-to-day basis. Property owners in Texas often find it difficult to comply with numerous and varied building regulations. H.B. 1901 eliminates any substantive difference between the regulations used by the federal government to administer ADA and regulations used in Texas to administer the the provisions of Article 9102, V.T.C.S. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 5(c), Article 9102, V.T.C.S., to require the standards and specifications adopted by the commissioner of licensing and regulation to be equivalent to those adopted under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Section 12101 et seq.) and its subsequent amendments, rather than by the American National Standards Institute, Inc. (or its federally recognized successor in function). SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.