The Illinois Spina Bifida Association strongly supports Illinois House Bill 4967, the Disability Protections Conservation Act, and demands immediate, decisive action to defend the civil rights of people with disabilities. Yesterday the Illinois House Judiciary Committee heard this urgent legislation to guard against federal efforts to weaken protections against discrimination for people with disabilities guaranteed under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Please contact your Illinois Representative and ask them to co-sponsor HB 4967 to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Click here to find your representative.
What rights are we talking about?
When you call or email your representative, please introduce yourself as a constituent and provide your mailing address. You can write or tell the staffer that answers the phone that “I would like Representative NAME to co-sponsor HB 4967 to protect the rights of people with disabilities.” That is all the basic info you need to communicate. Please be polite.
If your Representative already is a co-sponsor of the bill, please thank them.
HB 4967 is not optional; it is essential. Its passage would formally recognize disability as a protected class under the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, ensuring that critical protections remain intact and enforceable across state and local governments and all publicly funded programs. We refuse to stand by while fundamental rights are stripped away. This is a defining moment, and inaction is not acceptable. We call on advocates, allies, and community members to rise up and be counted by immediately contacting your state representative to support this bill.
Our collective voices are essential to protecting and advancing disability rights in Illinois.
Becky Ziegler Rupnick
Illinois Spina Bifida Association
Board Chair