Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Raoul Highlights Disability Rights Enforcement Power Under State Law

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today recognized Disability Pride Month and the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) by highlighting his office’s continued work to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities against unlawful attacks by the federal government.

“People with disabilities deserve to be active participants in their communities. As the Trump administration attempts to roll back the rights of people with disabilities, my office is working to preserve access to the programs and services that allow people with disabilities to live full and independent lives,” Raoul said. “As we celebrate July as Disability Pride Month and the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I am proud to highlight my office’s continuing efforts to achieve a more inclusive Illinois this month and around the year.”

The ADA was signed into law July 26, 1990 to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The law ensures equal rights and opportunities in all areas of public life, including employment, transportation and public accommodations. In Illinois, protections for individuals with disabilities are enshrined not only in the ADA, but in many other federal and state laws. Raoul’s Disability Rights Bureau is responsible for investigating alleged violations of state and federal disability anti-discrimination laws, including the ADA, the Illinois Human Rights Act, the Environmental Barriers Act and the Fair Housing Act. The bureau protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination and guarantees their equal access to buildings, housing and services.

Since Donald Trump took office, his administration has sought to weaken many landmark federal disability rights laws, including by weakening access to Medicaid for people with disabilities, repealing guidance about the Fair Housing Act’s guarantees surrounding reasonable accommodations, and dismantling the Department of Education in ways that significantly concern students with disabilities and their families. Raoul has sought to defend the rights of those with disabilities, as he has pushed back against the Trump administration’s erosion of civil rights more broadly.

Since January 2025, Raoul’s office has filed nearly 70 lawsuits defending the rule of law and the civil rights of all Illinoisans and has protected billions of dollars in federal funding for the state, including for critical programs and services that support individuals, families and organizations across Illinois. During Disability Pride Month, Raoul is reminding Illinoisans that the Trump administration’s statements regarding disabled Americans and their rights does not change the law itself or how those rights are interpreted under Illinois law.

For example, the Trump administration has taken action to roll back the rights of individuals with disabilities with respect to housing in ways that could disproportionately harm those who have “invisible” disabilities, including military veterans with PTSD or those with severe anxiety and depression. However, Illinois law protects access to reasonable accommodations in housing, including the right to live with an assistance animal.

In the past year, Raoul’s office filed two separate lawsuits defending individuals with disabilities’ access to affordable and continuous healthcare. Last month, Raoul and coalition filed a lawsuit challenging a June 1 rule by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that threatens healthcare coverage for people living with disabilities or serious medical conditions. The lawsuit explains that Congress created exemptions from Medicaid’s work requirements to ensure people with serious illnesses and disabilities – people who Congress called “medically frail” – do not lose coverage or face interruptions in care. However, CMS’ new rule changes the definition of “medically frail,” imposing extra paperwork that could take away healthcare coverage.

In July 2025, Raoul challenged the Trump administration’s rule to govern federal and state health insurance marketplaces that would create significant barriers to obtaining healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Raoul explained the final rule will cause health insurance premiums to rise while more than 14,000 Illinoisians lose access to affordable health insurance.

Raoul is also committed to ensuring that K-12 students have equal access to a free public education, regardless of their disabilities. In an effort to protect some of Illinois’ most vulnerable students, Raoul and a coalition filed a lawsuit July 10 to prevent the department from unlawfully terminating congressionally approved school-based mental health grants. Despite a previous court order prohibiting the administration from discontinuing the grants, it plans to renew its efforts to end essential mental health programming at the end of July by terminating the grants. This was just one of the many programs the administration attempted to cancel, which has provided additional mental health services for more than 50,000 students in Illinois since the program’s outset.

In addition to its enforcement work, the Disability Rights Bureau provides technical assistance to individuals with disabilities and to public and private entities seeking to comply with disability rights laws. The bureau also conducts disability rights training programs for law enforcement, architects, engineers, building code officials and inspectors, judges and court personnel, business owners, disability rights organizations, and other groups throughout the state. Bureau staff members also serve on a number of committees that address a variety of issues impacting the lives of people with disabilities.

For more information about disability rights laws or to file a complaint, Raoul encourages people to visit the Attorney General’s website or contact the Attorney General’s Disability Rights Bureau in Chicago by calling 312-814-5684 and in Springfield at 217-524-2660, or by emailing Disability.Rights@ilag.gov. Individuals with hearing or speech disabilities can call the 711 relay service.