[Ct-nfb] Legislative Alert from National Convention

[Sigman, Brian]

Absolutely it helps to hear from consumers directly. I just wanted everyone to know that NCSAB was also weighing in on this issue.

________________________________
From: ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2011 10:53 AM
To: NFB of Connecticut Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Legislative Alert from National Convention

It helps to have both!  Yes, Congress-persons respond to their constituents, so personal stories etc., are best, but it becomes especially strong if both the consumers, and professionals are against it.

Dave

At 07:26 AM 7/7/2011, you wrote:

Brian,
While this helps, is it not more effective coming from comments of persons impacted by this?


From: ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [ mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sigman, Brian
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2011 8:16 AM
To: 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Legislative Alert from National Convention

Hi Lucia- I wanted to be sure you were also aware that the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind (representing all public VR programs for people who are blind) has also taken a stance in opposition of the sub-minimum wage language.

________________________________
From: ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org [ mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of llee at nfbct.org
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2011 2:52 PM
To: NFB of CT list serve
Subject: [Ct-nfb] Legislative Alert from National Convention

Hi all,

Beth Rival called today from the national convention. She asked that I re-send this legislative alert. We have received word that the Health, Education, Labor & Pension (HELP) Committee will be voting on the Workforce Investment Act next week. The HELP Committee plans to vote to continue the practice of paying disabled people a subminimum wage as stated in Section 511 of the Act. This Act does affect people all over the country, here in CT also. There are disabled people in CT who work for subminimum wages.Please read the following email from Anil Lewis and call Senator Richard Blumenthal, who is on the committee,  to ask him to have Section 511 removed. His contact number is on the list following the email.




-----Original Message-----
From: nfbnet-master-list-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbnet-master-list-bounces at nfbnet.org>
[ mailto:nfbnet-master-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 12:47 PM
To: nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Nfbnet-master-list] Follow Up on Subminimum Wage Legislative Alert
from Anil Lewis (
alewis at nfb.org<mailto:alewis at nfb.org>)?

Dear Fellow Federationists,
Michael Barber reports that the NFB of Iowa has sent over seventy
letters to Senator Harkin, urging him to remove Section 511 from Title V
of the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA). This bill will be marked up and voted on
Wednesday, June 29, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. If your senator is on the
Senate Committee
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP committee), please
continue to write and call regarding this issue.
Section 511 reauthorizes payment of subminimum wages to people with
disabilities. It is completely contrary to the purpose of the
Rehabilitation Act, which is intended to promote competitive, integrated
employment.
The following list contains the names of members of the HELP committee.
If your senator is a member of the committee, please call his/her office
to respectfully
express your adamant objection to linking subminimum wage to the
Rehabilitation Act, and to insist that Section 511 of the Rehabilitation
Act be removed
from the bill. If your senator is not a member of the HELP committee,
call the committee chair (Senator Tom Harkin) and the ranking member
(Senator Michael
Enzi) to register your objection. Additional background information on
Section 511 follows after the HELP committee list.
Sincerely,
Anil Lewis
Director of Strategic Communications
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Telephone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2374
E-mail:
alewis at nfb.org<mailto:alewis at nfb.org>
table with 3 columns and 23 rows
Senator
State
Telephone
Senator Lamar Alexander
Tennessee
(202) 224-4944
Senator Michael F. Bennet
Colorado
(202) 224-5852
Senator Jeff Bingaman
New Mexico
(202) 224-5521
Senator Richard Blumenthal
Connecticut
(202) 224-2823
Senator Richard Burr
North Carolina
(202) 224-3154
Senator Robert Casey, Jr.
Pennsylvania
(202) 224-6324
Senator Mike Enzi
Wyoming
(202) 224-3424
Senator Al Franken
Minnesota
(202) 224-5641
Senator Kay R. Hagan
North Carolina
(202) 224-6342
Senator Tom Harkin
Iowa
(202) 224-3254
Senator Orrin G. Hatch
Utah
(202) 224-5251
Senator Johnny Isakson
Georgia
(202) 224-3643
Senator Mark Steven Kirk
Illinois
(202) 224-2854
Senator John McCain
Arizona
(202) 224-2235
Senator Jeff Merkley
Oregon
(202) 224-3753
Senator Barbara A. Mikulski
Maryland
(202) 224-4654
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Alaska
(202) 224-6665
Senator Patty Murray
Washington
(202) 224-2621
Senator Rand Paul
Kentucky
(202) 224-4343
Senator Pat Roberts
Kansas
(202) 224-4774
Senator Bernard Sanders
Vermont
(202) 224-5141
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Rhode Island
(202) 224-2921
table end

Background:
The key legislation around the recent Subminimum Wage legislative alert
is the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), specifically Title V, the
Rehabilitation
Act, which is one of the most important pieces of legislation affecting
the lives of people with disabilities. There is no bill number assigned
at this
time, but we have been provided the proposed draft language. On
Wednesday, June 29, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions (HELP
committee) will be marking up the WIA reauthorization. So far, we have
been unsuccessful in our efforts to have Section 511 removed from the
language.

As the Senate works to reauthorize the Rehabilitation Act, a new section
has been added, Section 511, which links Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor
Standards
Act (FSLA) to the Rehabilitation Act. Section 14(c) of the FLSA is the
law that allows employers to pay subminimum wages to their workers with
disabilities.
There are more than 5,000 entities that hold special wage certificates
allowing them to pay subminimum wages to more than 400,000 workers with
disabilities.
Section 14(c) is flawed in its implementation, and it has been plagued
with abuse of employers paying workers with disabilities even less than
the subminimum
wage they are entitled to receive as a result of this law. The Wage and
Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor is charged with the
responsibility
of oversight, but they are only able to investigate 2 percent of the
facilities a year. Many workers with disabilities have not been able to
collect millions
of dollars of back wages because the statute of limitations has passed
before WHD can identify the violation.
Section 14(c) is simply unenforceable. We have fought against this
provision since the founding of our organization, and we have made
significant progress.
Section 511 threatens that progress.
The language found in Section 511 is a restatement of Section 14(c) of
the FLSA, linking legislation that is supposed to provide the training
and support
for people with disabilities to obtain competitive employment to
legislation that asserts that people with disabilities cannot be
competitively employed.
The philosophies are in direct conflict, and Section 511 sends a mixed
message about the purpose of vocational rehabilitation (VR).
Section 511 explains the process a counselor would have to go through
before referring a client to a subminimum wage work environment. The
intent is to
make it more difficult for clients to be steered toward subminimum wage
employment. Unfortunately, the language opens a door to subminimum wage
employment
that did not previously exist. As a result of Section 511, if VR fails
to provide a client with the proper training and support to become
competitively
employed, they will be encouraged to make a referral to a subminimum
wage employer.
The language states that, once placed in a subminimum wage work
environment, the client should receive a review every six months.
However, similar to WHD's
inability to enforce Section 14(c) of the FLSA, it will not be possible
for VR to properly enforce this law, leaving even more individuals stuck
in subminimum
wage jobs. A better use of the inadequate funding potentially slated for
enforcement of Section 511, and the insufficient funding for WHD to
enforce Section
14(c) would be to develop creative rehabilitation strategies to
competitively employ all people with disabilities.
Many people have come to believe that subminimum wage employment is an
opportunity for people with disabilities to experience the tangible and
intangible
benefits of work. We maintain that there is no benefit, tangible or
intangible, to working in an environment that asserts that you are not
as good as
everyone else. Industries have been built on this false perception,
allowing people, who otherwise would be able to obtain competitive
employment, to
be exploited at subminimum wages to bolster an employer's profitability.
The job market has changed drastically since the initial passage of this
outdated
legislation. With the proper training and support, people with even the
most significant disabilities are able to be competitively employed.
We need to let members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pension know that Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act
should be removed
from the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act.
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