 Work program. The program allows Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability beneficiaries to receive a ticket that they can take to a provider of their choice in order to obtain employment-related training and services. Thus far, approximately 4.9 million people in 33 states and the District of Columbia now have tickets, and an additional 3.5 million people will be issued tickets in the remaining 17 states and the U.S. territories this year.
The President continues to push for increases for the Department of Transportation to promote innovative solutions to transportation barriers that people with disabilities still confront. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are advancing the Presidents commitment to full enforcement of the ADA. For example, the Solicitor General intervened in the Supreme Court case of Tennessee v. Lane to defend the constitutionality of ADA provisions that require state and local governments to make their programs and activities accessible to people with disabilities. DOJ, EEOC, and other agencies have also engaged in creative outreach efforts to educate businesses about the advantages of seeing people with disabilities as potential employees and customers, and to inform people with disabilities about their rights and responsibilities under the ADA. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has promoted homeownership for people with disabilities through its voucher homeownership program and has provided technical assistance nationwide to architects, engineers, and developers on how to build accessible housing.
Several new initiatives have also been undertaken since May 2002. An August 2002 Executive Memorandum called for the development of a web portal containing links to government-wide resources on disability. Fewer than sixty days after issuance of the Memorandum, DisabilityInfo.gov was launched, and the site had more than 1.5 million visitors (with 30 million hits) during 2003. A second Executive Memorandum, issued in February 2003, required agencies to better coordinate the availability of assistive technology mobility devices for people with disabilities. The working group that was created has detailed 34 agency actions that will be taken to make these devices more available.
In order to further implementation of Olmstead, the President has proposed $2.2 billion in the budget over the next five years for the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct demonstration projects that promote community-based services for people with disabilities. The President is also supporting a number of demonstrations aimed at removing disincentives to work that exist in the Social Security and SSI disability benefit programs.
Agencies have also undertaken new activities on their own to further the New Freedom Initiatives goals of full integration of people with disabilities. Last July, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans announced an eight-point plan for getting assistive and universally designed technology to the marketplace more quickly. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao established the New Freedom Initiative Awards, which annually recognize employers and individuals who promote the employment of people with disabilities. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson established the Office on Disability to coordinate HHS activities that support the New Freedom Initiative. And the Department of Education has undertaken a number of new funding projects that support the recommendations in the report of the Presidents Commission on Excellence in Special Education. More than ever before, agencies are working together on initiatives that affect people with disabilities. They are also forging new partnerships with state and local governments, the business community, and organizations of and for individuals with disabilities.
Under the leadership of President Bush, and with the New Freedom Initiative serving as a set of guiding principles for change, the Administration will continue its efforts to break down the remaining barri