Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or Section 504, can be considered the oldest federal disability civil rights law in the U.S. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public and private programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. The law also covers programs and activities that are conducted by the federal government itself, including all federal agencies and the U.S. postal service. The law is notable for its breadth. It applies across disabilities and across industries or sectors, from ground transportation to education to health. The law is also brief, with a prohibition on discrimination that is barely over 70 words. In part, that is because each major federal agency was required to develop, promulgate, and enforce more detailed regulations that would apply to its own programs, as well as regulations governing any entity that receives federal financial assistance from the agency.
Signed into law 50 years ago, there is still work to be done. Nearly 1 in 3 people with a disability lives in poverty. The rate for non-disabled people is about 1:10 or 11. If you have a disability in the U.S., you’re twice as likely to be poor as someone without a disability. You’re also far more likely to be unemployed. And that gap has widened in the 25 years since the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted!
