ble.
Much progress toward breaking down the barriers that still confront individuals with disabilities has been made since the announcement of the New Freedom Initiative. This Report summarizes significant activities that have occurred since publication of the first New Freedom Initiative Progress Report in May 2002.
Some of this progress builds on efforts undertaken during the first year of the New Freedom Initiative. For example, on March 21, 2002, nine agencies released a report entitled Delivering on the Promise in response to Executive Order 13217, which called for swift implementation of the Olmstead decision. Progress is being made on implementing many of the reports more than 400 solutions to remove barriers to full integration that exist in Federal programs affecting people with disabilities. Presidential commissions established by Executive Orders the Commission on Excellence in Special Education and the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health have now completed their work and have issued reports and recommendations that will inform future policy development.
The President has secured $120 million since the beginning of his administration to promote research and development of assistive and universally designed technology and to put technology into the hands of more people with disabilities. Promoting full implementation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires the accessibility of electronic and information technology purchased, maintained, and used by the Federal government, also remains a priority for the President.
President Bush has continued to follow through on his promise to provide more funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2001, the President has secured more than $3.7 billion in additional annual funding for the IDEA Part B State Grants program. He has proposed a further increase of $1 billion in FY 2005.
Since 2001, the Social Security Administration has been answering the Presidents call for implementation of the Ticket to 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, 