State Department Disability Policy and Accommodations Act

Key Points

• This bill requires the State Department to create a formal plan to promote disability rights through U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid. It focuses on making disability rights a key part of how the U.S. interacts with other countries and ensures that disabled veterans in partner nations are included in these efforts.
• It makes the Office of International Disability Rights a permanent part of the government. The office would be led by an Ambassador-at-Large and would receive 6 million dollars each year through 2030 to track spending and coordinate disability programs across different federal agencies.
• U.S. embassies and consulates around the world would have to follow strict accessibility rules. This includes making sure physical buildings are easy to enter and that government websites are accessible to everyone, including people with vision or hearing impairments.
• All State Department workers would be required to complete training on disability policy. This training helps staff understand how to include the needs of people with disabilities when providing humanitarian aid or working on foreign policy in different cultures.
• The bill creates a new fellowship program named after advocate Judy Heumann. This program would allow government employees to spend up to a year working with disability rights groups to learn how to better support disabled people in their diplomatic work.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.