504 Democratic Club: Questionnaires (Candidate for Attorney General Eric Dinallo's response)

Candidate Name: Eric Dinallo

Contact Person: Ben Elga

Campaign Address: P.O. Box 1645, New York, N.Y. 10150

Phone: 212-944-9640

Fax: 212-944-6807

Email: belga@ericdinallo.com

Endorsements: Democratic Co Chairs: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Columbia, Cortland, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Hamilton, Herkimer, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Ontario, Orleans, Putnam, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Tioga, Schenectady, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates

How have you incorporated people with disabilities into your campaign?

I myself am a lifelong stutterer, and I value diversity of all kinds on my campaign. We look forward to engaging with the disability community on the campaign trail and developing strategies for how the Attorney General's Office can best advocate on its behalf.
If there is a Campaign office(s) is it wheelchair accessible?

Yes, there is a campaign office and it is wheelchair accessible.
What personal and professional experience have you had with people with disabilities in your personal life and in the workplace?

I have worked with people with disabilities throughout my career, and have hired several staff with disabilities. On a personal level, I am a lifelong stutterer, a condition that was particularly severe when I was a child. I have become very active in the stuttering community, as a board member on American Institute for Stuttering. Although there is still legal controversy over whether stuttering is a disability, I have seen the difficulty it has caused severe stutterers in employment and every day activities.
What type of jobs would you be willing to hire and to provide reasonable accommodation (e.g. flex or part time) for staff members with disabilities?

I would be willing to hire and provide reasonable accommodation to staff members with disabilities for all job types. My priority is always to hire the best staff possible, and I certainly wouldn't let a disability stand in the way of forming a high caliber team.
While in public office and/or prior to this campaign, what have you accomplished in regard to advancing disability rights? This can include work towards accessible housing, transportation, employment, health care, education, and including people with disabilities in the political process.

As Superintendent of Insurance, I took the lead in reforming New York State's worker's compensation system. Every year, thousands of New Yorkers are injured at work and become temporarily or permanently disabled. Prior to reform, New York had one of the worst systems in the nation - injured workers received poor medical care and very low weekly payments, and were subject to months or even years of delay before receiving any benefits at all. The reforms I spearheaded increased workers' weekly benefits by 75%, led to faster resolution of cases, and developed medical treatment guidelines to provide injured workers with better care.

I also established an Elder Care Unit to address abuses in the insurance system against elderly people, many of whom develop physical disabilities as they age.
Will you commit to only attend and/or sponsor events that are accessible to people with disabilities including providing written materials in alternate formats, providing assistive listening systems, and sign language interpreters, as well as ensuring that locations are accessible to people who use mobility aids, like wheelchairs and walkers?

Whenever possible, I will seek to make my events accessible to people with disabilities. Unfortunately, I generally have little control over the location of the campaign events that I attend. Many are small, in people's homes, or at an organization's headquarters.
Do you pledge to use your office to affirm or strengthen, rather than weaken, civil rights protections to persons with disabilities?

Absolutely. I will continue and strengthen the strong history the Office has of enforcing federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex, gender, age, sexual orientation, national origin, and disabilities - specifically the ADA, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, NY Civil Rights laws, and Executive Law.
How do you propose your active involvement/availability to the disability community? Will there be a specific person in your office responsible to this community? Will have regular office agenda meetings on these issues? What would you do to have direct contact with our community?

As Attorney General, I will be a strong advocate for the disabled community, and make sure that there is an emphasis on disability rights within the Civil Rights Bureau. I will also instruct the Bureau Chief to assign a point person for disability issues who will have primary responsibility for disability rights cases and serve as a liaison to the disability community. My community relations staff will also keep in close contact with the disability community to keep abreast of issues as they develop and legislation beneficial to the community.
How will you work closely with the disability community to assure passage of vitally needed legislation? What will be your strategy?

My staff will review pending legislation and advocate for the passage of bills that strengthen the Attorney General's Office's ability to enforce civil rights, disability rights in particular, and prosecute violations of those rights.
If you are not an incumbent,
1. Is your present office/work place accessible to people with disabilities? If not, what have you done to rectify the inaccessibility?
  
  Yes.
2. If the present district office is inaccessible, do you intent to find an accessible office?
  
  The New York Attorney General's Office is accessible to people with disabilities.
Do you support a waiver of the state's sovereign immunity claims under the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973?

This question raises several significant legal issues that have been addressed and decided by the federal courts, including the Supreme Court. As Attorney General, I would abide by the decisions of those courts which, in some cases, provide for a waiver of state sovereign immunity claims and, in others, do not. Where the courts have allowed a waiver, I would be fully supportive of such a waiver.
While localities have acquired voting machines that attempt to meet the accessibility standards of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), many poling places in New York State remain inaccessible to persons with disabilities. Do you favor the elimination of provisions in Section 4-104 (1-a) of the NYS Election Law allowing waiver of polling place accessibility standards?

Yes, I do. I believe that voting is one of Americans' most important civic duties - and rights - and that localities should make their polling places accessible.
How do you propose dealing with school districts that deny civil rights to disabled students even after the State Division of Civil Rights affirms the student's rights such as to use a service animal?

I would address this in two ways. First, as the counsel to state agencies, I would work with the Department of Education to ensure that it develops appropriate policies to protect disabled students' civil rights. Second, where school districts are found to be discriminating against disabled students, I would bring an action through the Civil Rights Bureau on their behalf.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires housing developers to set aside a certain percentage of accessible units for persons with disabilities when federal funds are used for construction. Do you favor incorporating these provisions into State law so that the Dept. of Housing and Community Renewal can be empowered to enforce these provisions?

Yes.
Persons with disabilities have historically been under-represented within the Democratic Party leadership. According to the 2000 census, persons with disabilities comprised 20.6% of New York State residents and 23.1% of those 18 years and older. Previously, we were told that only those groups included in the Voting Rights Act were included in the goals and timetables for delegate selection. Yet the lesbian and gay communities were included for the first time at the 2000 convention and again at the 2004 and 2008 conventions. Would you support a campaign to set a goal that 10% of the total New York State Delegation to the 2012 Democratic National Convention be comprised of persons with disabilities?

Yes.

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