Disability Rights Groups Urge State AGs to Join Olmstead Statement; Bipartisan House Resolution Affirms the Importance of Community Integration

By Renee Williams, NLIHC Senior Advisor for Public Policy    

Disability rights advocates are urging state attorneys general to reaffirm their commitment to the statutory right of people with disabilities to live in integrated community settings, in accordance with the decades-old U.S. Supreme Court case, Olmstead v. Lois Curtis. 

On September 3, 2026, eighteen governors sent a letter to the federal government reaffirming their commitment to Olmstead. Having state attorneys general express their own support for Olmstead is also crucial, given their role in civil rights enforcement. 

Advocates are also asking members of Congress to support H. Res. 1586, a bipartisan resolution recognizing and honoring the Olmstead decision. 

NLIHC fully affirms and supports the rights of people with disabilities to live in their communities. 

Brief Background 

In a July 22, 2026, post, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law called upon advocates to ask their states to sign a statement entitled “Our Commitment to Community Integration for People with Disabilities.” The statement represents a collaboration among national disability rights organizations. The Bazelon Center created a background document, which outlines how state attorneys general can join the statement. 

The effort responds to a recent memo from the Department of Justice (DOJ) (see Memo, 6/29) that rejects the Olmstead community integration mandate. This was followed by the Texas v. Kennedy court ruling, which vacated key community integration provisions in the Department of Health and Human Services’ 2024 Section 504 regulations. On September 24, 2026, national disability organizations condemned this ruling with this statement.  

The federal government may be abandoning its duty to enforce the right of people with disabilities to live in their own homes and communities, but state attorneys general must enforce this right.  

Bipartisan Resolution 

On September 28, 2026, Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) led the introduction of H. Res. 1586, entitled “Recognizing and honoring the 27th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C.” Co-sponsors include Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Thomas Kean (R-NJ), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), and Joe Wilson (R-SC). The bipartisan resolution, in part, “affirms the Olmstead decision’s vital importance to ending the unjustified institutionalization and segregation of individuals with disabilities.” 

Take Action 

Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) has created the following resources to support the effort to affirm the Olmstead community integration mandate: 

• Action page to ask state attorneys general to join the Olmstead statement; 
• Action page urging support for H. Res. 1586