From the Associated Press/USA Today:

Miniature golf courses, amusement parks, sport stadiums, fishing piers and bowling alleys are among millions of businesses and public facilities that would be affected by regulatory changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act that were proposed by the Justice Department last month.

The proposed regulations — 1,000 pages in all — are drawing intense scrutiny from businesses that foresee steep costs and disability rights advocates who say they don’t go far enough. Both groups are asking for clarification. Final regulations could take effect next year, after a period for public comment.

The cost to 7 million affected businesses plus state and local government agencies is estimated at $23 billion over 40 years.

Related editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

… Who are “the disabled”? The Census Bureau now claims there are more than 51 million disabled Americans, representing 18 percent of the population. Does one in six of your fellow Americans look “disabled” to you?

… When there are government benefits available to anyone who can get their problem classified as a “legal disability,” it’s no surprise lobbying pressure has been applied to get everything from alcoholism to depression to the inability to have sex qualified for a “disability” check — and some special provision in the regulations.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under ADA, business, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.