House passes bill to curb what sponsors call predatory website-access lawsuits

The Missouri House on April 15 passed a committee substitute for Senate Bill 907, a measure its sponsor described as the "Act Against Abusive Website Access Litigation" designed to limit what supporters called predatory lawsuits targeting businesses' websites.

The bill’s floor sponsor, the gentleman from Taney County, told colleagues the legislation was crafted to align state language with recent federal court rulings on ADA website compliance and to extend coverage to "all entities registered with the secretary of state, including businesses, nonprofits and churches," as well as political subdivisions. He said the substitute gives defendants 90 days to fix alleged accessibility problems before a lawsuit can move forward.

"This bill would allow 90 days to fix the issue before a lawsuit could move forward," the sponsor said, arguing that some plaintiffs and lawyers were using ADA website claims primarily to obtain attorney fees rather than to remedy access barriers. "People with disabilities must be assured equal opportunities, but the process of getting there must be fair to our small businesses as well."

Supporters across the chamber described the change as bipartisan and framed it as protection for small businesses. Opponents did not force a recorded roll-call debate during the floor discussion; after closing remarks the House adopted the committee substitute by voice and a subsequent roll call showed 148 yeas and 0 nays.

The substitute also included an amendment clarifying the bill’s scope by adding the words "web content" after "website," a change the sponsor said would better cover third-party storefronts hosted on platforms such as Etsy.

The bill now returns to the Senate as amended under the House committee substitute process.