Committee advances bill to create state ADA coordinator

The Committee on General & Housing voted to report H861 (draft 2.1) favorably, advancing a bill that would create a state Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator in the Agency of Administration.

Katie McLean of the Office of Legislative Council walked members through draft 2.1, saying section A creates the position, section B sets minimum qualifications and section C limits consideration to candidates nominated by a short list of disability-focused entities. "In hiring for the coordinator position, the secretary of administration shall consider only those candidates nominated by the following entities," McLean said, listing the Human Rights Commission, Disability Rights Vermont, the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights and the Vermont Center for Independent Living.

The draft also enumerates duties including ensuring communications with people with disabilities are as effective as those with others, giving primary consideration to an individual's preferred method of communication, educating state employees on legal obligations and preventing ableism, and a new duty to facilitate partnerships among agencies and disability advocacy groups to align policy and implementation. The draft shows an appropriation of $15,000; members described that amount as "a foot in the door" and said the initial position could later request additional staff or resources after completing evaluations.

Several members noted draft 2.1 reduces the coordinator's explicit public-facing responsibilities compared with an earlier version, meaning day-to-day responsiveness to individuals may fall under supervisory direction rather than being an enumerated duty. One lawmaker described their lived experience before the ADA and said a coordinator would help reduce duplication across agencies and better prioritize disability access in state decisions: "to be able to facilitate a position that would enable that cooperation is also really awesome," the lawmaker said.

The committee recorded the vote as "10–0–1" in the transcript; Representative Parsons was identified as absent. Committee members asked staff to place the bill on the notice calendar, notify the reporter and committee when it will be heard, and referred it to the next stage of consideration.

The bill draft lists an effective date in the text that appears in the transcript as "July 126"; the committee acknowledged the effective-date language as part of the draft but the text as read in the hearing was unclear. The draft repeatedly references the ADA as the substantive law the coordinator would help implement and align state practice with.

The committee did not adopt amendments during the meeting; the committee chair said a clean copy will be circulated to members and staff ahead of the next hearing.