ADA, DISABILITY RIGHTS, AND EVOLVING REGULATORY FEDERALISM

This article explores the evolution of regulatory federalism by examin ing the shifting basis of disability rights mandates from conditions-o f-aid to federal preemption. It also examines the disability rights ma ndates placed on state and local governments by the Americans with Dis abilities Act (ADA) and compares them with those provided in earlier f ederal laws. The central thesis is that by adopting a preemptive appro ach, the U.S. Congress claimed for itself the dominant role increasing and enforcing nondiscrimination mandates to protect the rights of peo ple with disabilities. While several organizing principles and impleme ntation directives stipulated in ADA were first devised in earlier fed eral laws and administrative regulations, their application through fe deral preemption strengthened the force and reach of disability rights protections. In the process preemption substantially reduced the auth ority of state and local governments to create and implement their own disability rights measures.