The Assembly today passed 87-8 a bill to provide disabled parking privileges on UW System campuses for people with disabilities that limit or impair their ability to walk.
All of those who voted against AB 49 were Dems.
Under current law, people with plates or cards giving them disabled parking privileges are not subject to time limits in municipally owned or leased parking lots with time limits of at least 30 minutes and do not have to make meter payments.
According to written testimony from the UW System Office of Government Relations, said AB 49 would affect the limited parking available on campuses, noting many already allow extended time limits and waive payments for cars with disability plates or cards.
Rep. Jimmy Anderson, who did not vote on the bill today, joined two of his Dem colleagues in opposition to the measure in committee. However, Reps. Jodi Emerson, of Eau Claire, and Alex Joers, of Middleton, voted to pass the measure today.
Anderson has been in a wheelchair since his family’s car was hit by a drunk driver, taking his parents’ and little brother’s lives and leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.
The Fitchburg Dem yesterday told WisPolitics.com he is concerned the measure could lead to disabled people who aren’t students taking spots away from the disabled students who need them, especially considering the lack of time limit.
Anderson cited Regent Street in Madison, which is near some campus buildings, as an example.
“Someone may just want to park in that spot because they want to get access to a bar or a restaurant, whereas, you know, a student that actually has a disability and needs access to that building is now going to have to park at a different location further away because there’s no longer that availability,” Anderson said.
There was no discussion on the floor about the bill today.
See the written testimony: https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/230417AB49testimony.pdf
