A civil right to live free.
The Latonya Reeves Freedom Act (H.R. 9401 / S. 4865, 119th Congress) strengthens the Americans with Disabilities Act's integration mandate to accelerate implementation of the Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision. Rather than rewriting Medicaid, it establishes a direct, enforceable federal civil right in statute.
A federally protected right
Every individual who may be institutionalized gets a federally protected right to be integrated into their community and receive community-based LTSS — not just Medicaid recipients, but anyone covered by any public entity or LTSS insurance provider, including managed care organizations.
Real enforcement, not just guidance
Individuals can sue for preventive relief, actual and punitive damages, and immediate injunctive relief to stop institutionalization. Courts can appoint counsel and waive fees for plaintiffs who need it. The Attorney General can also investigate and enforce.
A clear definition of discrimination
The bill defines twelve specific forms of discrimination — waiting lists, service caps, inadequate attendant pay rates, disability-specific congregate settings, and housing tied to service provision among them — closing the loopholes states and insurers have used for decades.
A managed, accountable transition
Public entities and LTSS insurance providers must self-evaluate, publish a transition plan with measurable annual targets, and report progress publicly every year — with a 12-year outside deadline, not an indefinite delay.
Read the full section-by-section breakdown of the legislation.
Olmstead is under direct attack — and this is the only response in statute.
For 27 years, Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) has stood as the legal foundation for the right of Disabled people to receive services in the community instead of an institution. That foundation is now being dismantled from within the federal government itself.
The June 2026 OLC Opinion
On June 18, 2026, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a formal opinion arguing that neither the ADA nor Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act actually requires states to serve Disabled people in the most integrated setting — and that Olmstead itself never established a binding "integration mandate" at all. OLC opinions aren't binding on courts, but they are treated as controlling guidance within the executive branch.
On July 20, 2026, DOJ followed through: it published a Federal Register notice stating it will no longer rely on its longstanding Olmstead guidance to enforce Title II of the ADA, and that the guidance is "not enforceable." This does not overturn Olmstead as a judicial decision — but it strips away the federal enforcement machinery that has been in place for a generation.
Olmstead's protections were never fully secured in statute. They rested on a Supreme Court interpretation of the ADA's implementing regulations — regulations that a change in executive branch posture, or a future court applying a narrower reading of agency authority, can undercut without Congress ever voting on it. That is exactly what is happening now.
The Latonya Reeves Freedom Act is the only civil rights legislation currently before Congress that responds to this crisis by putting the integration mandate directly into statute. Rather than relying on regulatory guidance the executive branch can reinterpret or abandon, LRFA writes the right to community-based services, the definition of discrimination, and the remedies for violating it into federal law itself — where it can only be undone by Congress, not by a legal memo.
Nearly a decade of bipartisan work.
This legislation has been built, Congress after Congress, as a bipartisan and bicameral civil rights bill — not a party-line measure. It has had support across the entire political spectrum from Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) on the left to Congressman Ken Buck (CO) and Congressman Greg Gianforte (MT) on the right.
The Disability Integration Act is introduced in the House for the first time — by a Republican, Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) and in the Senate by Senator Charles (Chuck) Schumer, a Democrat.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) takes up the House bill. In the 116th Congress, 17 Republicans sign on as cosponsors — including members with strongly conservative voting records, such as Reps. Ken Buck (CO), Greg Gianforte (MT), Doug Lamborn (CO), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Elise Stefanik (NY), Scott Tipton (CO), and Don Young (AK).
The bill is renamed the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act and introduced in the Senate by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). It draws 202–238 House cosponsors across these Congresses with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) taking over as the lead sponsor in the House. He continues to build cross-party support, with the following cosponsors: Reps Don Bacon (NE), Ken Buck (CO), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Mike Gallagher (WI), Glenn Grothman (WI), Nick LaLota (NY), Doug Lamborn (CO), Michael Lawler (NY), Marc Molinaro (NY), Chris Smith (NJ), Pete Stauber (MN), Bryan Steil (WI), Thomas Tiffany (WI), Jeff Van Drew (NJ), Derrick Van Orden (WI), and Robert Wittman (VA).
H.R. 9401 and S. 4865 are introduced with a bipartisan cosponsor list that includes Republican Reps. Don Bacon (NE), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Michael Lawler (NY), Daniel Meuser (PA), Jeff Van Drew (NJ), Derrick Van Orden (WI) alongside dozens of Democratic cosponsors.
This history matters: disability civil rights legislation has a long bipartisan track record — from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, signed by President Nixon, to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. LRFA continues that tradition, and its sponsors have deliberately built and maintained Republican support across every version of the bill since 2015.
Who was Latonya Reeves?
Latonya Reeves was institutionalized as a child. As an adult living in Tennessee, she found herself at risk of being sent back into an institution because the state did not provide the services and supports she needed to live free.
Deborah Cunningham, Executive Director of the Memphis Center for Independent Living, helped keep Latonya free by coordinating her move to Denver, Colorado — into the open arms of the Reverend Wade Blank and the Atlantis Community. Latonya blazed a new trail on what would become the Disability Road to Freedom, which used to be called the Disability Underground Railroad. In the decades since, she has lived free in Denver, worked to support other Disabled people transitioning out of institutions and into the community, and been an activist with ADAPT.
Hear Latonya tell her own story: Watch on Vimeo →
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