OUR WORK
Our coalition has worked with university administrators, collected nearly 2000 signatures on a public-facing petition to the university President, garnered local and state media attention, and received the support of elected officials including State Senator Cesar Blanco and State Representative Lina Ortega.
UT System Board of Regents
Accessibility is not optional!
A coalition of faculty, staff, and students requested that this issue be added to the November 2020 Board of Regents agenda. They refused to add our issue. Our coalition then decided to hold a town hall and invited the Board of Regents to come listen to our perspective. They did not show up.
Our coalition has gained public support and attention for this issue, yet our request has been largely ignored by
UTEP Administration
UTEP Faculty Senate
UT System Board of Regents
Our ask is simple: Make ADA-parking free of charge across UT System campuses.
Senate Bill 2138
A step in the right direction!
During the 87th Texas Legislature, Senator Cesar Blanco filed Senate Bill 2138, addressing parking fees charged by public higher education institutions to persons with disabilities. SB 2138 sought to exempt employees and students with disabilities across the state of Texas from costly and unfair ADA parking fees.
Unfortunately, SB 2138 died in committee during the 87th Texas Legislature. The university’s parking remains exclusionary as ever. Parking permits for employees with disabilities still cost more than $500 a year and many of the designated ADA spots on campus are still far from central buildings.
We applaud Senator Blanco and Representative Ortega for their support and commitment to bring disability justice to our community.