<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><BR><BR>--- On <B>Tue, 7/12/11, Monica Webster <I><monicawebster@me.com></I></B> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Dear Fellow Federationists,<BR><BR>Michael Barber reports that the NFB of </SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Iowa</SPAN></st1:place></st1:State></STRONG><STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language:
EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> has sent over seventy <BR>letters to Senator Harkin, urging him to remove Section 511 from Title V <BR>of the Workforce<BR>Investment Act (WIA). This bill will be marked up and voted on <BR>Wednesday, June 29, at </SPAN><st1:time Hour="16" Minute="30"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">4:30 p.m.</SPAN></st1:time></STRONG><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><STRONG> Eastern time. If your senator is on the <BR>Senate Committee<BR>on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP committee), please <BR>continue to write and call regarding this
issue.<BR><BR>Section 511 reauthorizes payment of subminimum wages to people with <BR>disabilities. It is completely contrary to the purpose of the <BR>Rehabilitation Act, which is intended to promote competitive, integrated <BR>employment.<BR><BR>The following list contains the names of members of the HELP committee. <BR>If your senator is a member of the committee, please call his/her office <BR>to respectfully<BR>express your adamant objection to linking subminimum wage to the <BR>Rehabilitation Act, and to insist that Section 511 of the Rehabilitation <BR>Act be removed<BR>from the bill. If your senator is not a member of the HELP committee, <BR>call the committee chair (Senator Tom Harkin) and the ranking member <BR>(Senator Michael<BR>Enzi) to register your objection. Additional background information on <BR>Section 511 follows after the HELP committee list.<BR><BR>Sincerely,<BR><BR>Anil Lewis<BR>Director of Strategic Communications<BR>NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<BR>Telephone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2374<BR>E-mail:<BR></STRONG><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=alewis@nfb.org" target=_blank><STRONG>alewis@nfb.org</STRONG></A><BR><BR><STRONG>table with 3 columns and 23 rows<BR>Senator<BR><BR>State<BR><BR>Telephone<BR><BR>Senator Lamar Alexander<BR><BR>Tennessee<BR><BR>(202) 224-4944<BR><BR>Senator Michael F. Bennet<BR><BR>Colorado<BR><BR>(202) 224-5852<BR><BR>Senator Jeff Bingaman<BR><BR>New Mexico<BR><BR>(202) 224-5521<BR><BR>Senator Richard Blumenthal<BR><BR>Connecticut<BR><BR>(202) 224-2823<BR><BR>Senator Richard Burr<BR><BR>North Carolina<BR><BR>(202) 224-3154<BR><BR>Senator Robert Casey, Jr.<BR><BR>Pennsylvania<BR><BR>(202) 224-6324<BR><BR>Senator Mike Enzi<BR><BR>Wyoming<BR><BR>(202) 224-3424<BR><BR>Senator Al Franken<BR><BR>Minnesota<BR><BR>(202) 224-5641<BR><BR>Senator Kay R. Hagan<BR><BR>North Carolina<BR><BR>(202) 224-6342<BR><BR>Senator Tom
Harkin<BR><BR>Iowa<BR><BR>(202) 224-3254<BR><BR>Senator Orrin G. Hatch<BR><BR>Utah<BR><BR>(202) 224-5251<BR><BR>Senator Johnny Isakson<BR><BR>Georgia<BR><BR>(202) 224-3643<BR><BR>Senator Mark Steven Kirk<BR><BR>Illinois<BR><BR>(202) 224-2854<BR><BR>Senator John McCain<BR><BR>Arizona<BR><BR>(202) 224-2235<BR><BR>Senator Jeff Merkley<BR><BR>Oregon<BR><BR>(202) 224-3753<BR><BR>Senator Barbara A. Mikulski<BR><BR>Maryland<BR><BR>(202) 224-4654<BR><BR>Senator Lisa Murkowski<BR><BR>Alaska<BR><BR>(202) 224-6665<BR><BR>Senator Patty Murray<BR><BR>Washington<BR><BR>(202) 224-2621<BR><BR>Senator Rand Paul<BR><BR>Kentucky<BR><BR>(202) 224-4343<BR><BR>Senator Pat Roberts<BR><BR>Kansas<BR><BR>(202) 224-4774<BR><BR>Senator Bernard Sanders<BR><BR>Vermont<BR><BR>(202) 224-5141<BR><BR>Senator Sheldon Whitehouse<BR><BR>Rhode Island<BR><BR>(202) 224-2921<BR>table end<BR><BR><BR>Background:<BR><BR>The key legislation around the recent Subminimum Wage legislative alert
<BR>is the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), specifically Title V, the <BR>Rehabilitation<BR>Act, which is one of the most important pieces of legislation affecting <BR>the lives of people with disabilities. There is no bill number assigned <BR>at this<BR>time, but we have been provided the proposed draft language. On <BR>Wednesday, June 29, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, <BR>and Pensions (HELP<BR>committee) will be marking up the WIA reauthorization. So far, we have <BR>been unsuccessful in our efforts to have Section 511 removed from the <BR>language.<BR><BR><BR>As the Senate works to reauthorize the Rehabilitation Act, a new section <BR>has been added, Section 511, which links Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor <BR>Standards<BR>Act (FSLA) to the Rehabilitation Act. Section 14(c) of the FLSA is the <BR>law that allows employers to pay subminimum wages to their workers with <BR>disabilities.<BR>There are more than 5,000 entities that hold
special wage certificates <BR>allowing them to pay subminimum wages to more than 400,000 workers with <BR>disabilities.<BR>Section 14(c) is flawed in its implementation, and it has been plagued <BR>with abuse of employers paying workers with disabilities even less than <BR>the subminimum<BR>wage they are entitled to receive as a result of this law. The Wage and <BR>Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor is charged with the <BR>responsibility<BR>of oversight, but they are only able to investigate 2 percent of the <BR>facilities a year. Many workers with disabilities have not been able to <BR>collect millions<BR>of dollars of back wages because the statute of limitations has passed <BR>before WHD can identify the violation.<BR><BR>Section 14(c) is simply unenforceable. We have fought against this <BR>provision since the founding of our organization, and we have made <BR>significant progress.<BR>Section 511 threatens that progress.<BR><BR>The
language found in Section 511 is a restatement of Section 14(c) of <BR>the FLSA, linking legislation that is supposed to provide the training <BR>and support<BR>for people with disabilities to obtain competitive employment to <BR>legislation that asserts that people with disabilities cannot be <BR>competitively employed.<BR>The philosophies are in direct conflict, and Section 511 sends a mixed <BR>message about the purpose of vocational rehabilitation (VR).<BR><BR>Section 511 explains the process a counselor would have to go through <BR>before referring a client to a subminimum wage work environment. The <BR>intent is to<BR>make it more difficult for clients to be steered toward subminimum wage <BR>employment. Unfortunately, the language opens a door to subminimum wage <BR>employment<BR>that did not previously exist. As a result of Section 511, if VR fails <BR>to provide a client with the proper training and support to become
<BR>competitively<BR>employed, they will be encouraged to make a referral to a subminimum <BR>wage employer.<BR><BR>The language states that, once placed in a subminimum wage work <BR>environment, the client should receive a review every six months. <BR>However, similar to WHD's<BR>inability to enforce Section 14(c) of the FLSA, it will not be possible <BR>for VR to properly enforce this law, leaving even more individuals stuck <BR>in subminimum<BR>wage jobs. A better use of the inadequate funding potentially slated for <BR>enforcement of Section 511, and the insufficient funding for WHD to <BR>enforce Section<BR>14(c) would be to develop creative rehabilitation strategies to <BR>competitively employ all people with disabilities.<BR><BR>Many people have come to believe that subminimum wage employment is an <BR>opportunity for people with disabilities to experience the tangible and <BR>intangible<BR>benefits of work. We maintain that there is no benefit,
tangible or <BR>intangible, to working in an environment that asserts that you are not <BR>as good as<BR>everyone else. Industries have been built on this false perception, <BR>allowing people, who otherwise would be able to obtain competitive <BR>employment, to<BR>be exploited at subminimum wages to bolster an employer's profitability. <BR>The job market has changed drastically since the initial passage of this <BR>outdated<BR>legislation. With the proper training and support, people with even the <BR>most significant disabilities are able to be competitively employed.<BR><BR>We need to let members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, <BR>Labor, and Pension know that Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act <BR>should be removed<BR>from the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act.<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"></STRONG></SPAN><BR>From: Monica Webster
<monicawebster@me.com><BR>Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] RESOLUTION 2011-17 Regarding the Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization<BR>To: "NFB of Connecticut Mailing List" <ct-nfb@nfbnet.org><BR>Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 6:46 AM<BR><BR>
<DIV id=yiv1241732470>
<DIV>What is richard blumenthals number? Anyone have it, that makes life even easier if so<BR><BR>Monica Webster
<DIV>Coldwell Banker Previews Int'l</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR>On Jul 12, 2011, at 6:43 AM, Richard McGaffin <<A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rmcgaffin@snet.net" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:rmcgaffin@snet.net">rmcgaffin@snet.net</A>> wrote:<BR><BR></DIV>
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<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5>Hey Justin:</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5>You may have finished selling your M&Ms before me, but with my wife's help we ended up selling another 24 bags so I won in the end (just messing with you) great seeing you at the convention and I have to admit I almost forgot to call, but thankfully Joyce Kane reminded me of it.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5>have a good one</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5>Rich</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR>--- On <B>Mon, 7/11/11, Salisbury, Justin Mark <I><<A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SALISBURYJ08@students.ecu.edu" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:SALISBURYJ08@students.ecu.edu">SALISBURYJ08@students.ecu.edu</A>></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Salisbury, Justin Mark <<A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SALISBURYJ08@students.ecu.edu" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:SALISBURYJ08@students.ecu.edu">SALISBURYJ08@students.ecu.edu</A>><BR>Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] RESOLUTION 2011-17 Regarding the Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization<BR>To: "NFB of Connecticut Mailing List" <<A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ct-nfb@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:ct-nfb@nfbnet.org">ct-nfb@nfbnet.org</A>><BR>Date: Monday, July 11, 2011, 2:55 PM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=yiv1241732470plainMail>We need everyone to call about this! That means you! <BR><BR>It takes literally less than five minutes. I doubt I could have made that assistant to Senator Blumenthal stay on the phone for five whole minutes even if I had tried. I promise that you all do have the time.<BR><BR>Justin<BR><BR>Justin M. Salisbury<BR>Undergraduate Student<BR>The University Honors Program<BR>East Carolina University<BR><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=salisburyj08@students.ecu.edu" rel=nofollow target=_blank><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=salisburyj08@students.ecu.edu" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:salisburyj08@students.ecu.edu">salisburyj08@students.ecu.edu</A></A><BR><BR>“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” —MARGARET
MEAD<BR><BR><BR>________________________________________<BR>From: <A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org">ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org</A></A> [<A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org">ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org</A></A>] on behalf of <A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=llee@nfbct.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=llee@nfbct.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:llee@nfbct.org">llee@nfbct.org</A></A> [<A
href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=llee@nfbct.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=llee@nfbct.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:llee@nfbct.org">llee@nfbct.org</A></A>]<BR>Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 2:31 PM<BR>To: NFB of CT list serve<BR>Subject: [Ct-nfb] RESOLUTION 2011-17 Regarding the Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization<BR><BR>Here is a resolution that was passed at the NFB National Convention last week.<BR><BR><BR>RESOLUTION 2011-17<BR>Regarding the Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization<BR>Proponent:<BR><BR>WHEREAS, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and<BR>Pensions has distributed language for the reauthorization of the<BR>Workforce Investment Act including a proposed Section 511 of Title V<BR>(the Rehabilitation Act), which would provide for employment of<BR>people with significant disabilities at wages below the
federally<BR>mandated minimum wage; and<BR><BR>WHEREAS, the proposed language of Section 511 would be a tacit<BR>endorsement of the subminimum wage provision found in Section 14(c)<BR>of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its antiquated contention<BR>that people with disabilities cannot be competitively employed; and<BR><BR>WHEREAS, this language links the Rehabilitation Act, which was<BR>established to assist people with disabilities in obtaining<BR>competitive integrated employment, with Section 14(c) of the FLSA,<BR>which is based on the false premise that people with disabilities can<BR>not be competitively employed and therefore can be paid subminimum wages;<BR>and<BR><BR>WHEREAS, the language in Section 511 that defines what steps a<BR>vocational rehabilitation counselor must take before steering a<BR>client into subminimum-wage employment is intended to prevent youth<BR>with disabilities from being tracked into subminimum-wage jobs,
but<BR>is likely instead to track clients into subminimum-wage employment; and<BR><BR>WHEREAS, language in Section 511 asserts that employers holding a<BR>certificate that allows them to pay subminimum wages can also serve<BR>as training facilities for people with disabilities, a claim that<BR>ignores the fact that job training services provided by an employer<BR>holding a special wage certificate are likely to reinforce the low<BR>expectation that workers with disabilities cannot be competitively<BR>employed, since the incentive is for the employer to continue<BR>exploiting their labor rather than prepare workers for other employment; and<BR><BR>WHEREAS, the Section 511 documentation and review process, which is<BR>meant to provide safeguards against inappropriate use of<BR>subminimum-wage employment, does not take into consideration the fact<BR>that state Vocational Rehabilitation programs do not have the<BR>resources to ensure effective compliance
with the various<BR>documentation and review requirements, including the six-month review<BR>period in the proposed language, creating an opportunity to expand<BR>the exploitation caused by Section 14(c) of the FLSA; and<BR><BR>WHEREAS, the good intentions motivating the development of Section<BR>511 are likely to result in enormous negative consequences,<BR>especially the validation of subminimum-wage employment as a viable<BR>outcome for people with disabilities; and<BR><BR>WHEREAS, the language does not provide an effective procedure for<BR>workers to challenge improper placement in such employment: Now, therefore,<BR><BR>BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention<BR><BR>assembled this seventh day of July, 2011, in the city of Orlando,<BR>Florida, that this organization call on members of the Senate<BR>Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to remove Section<BR>511 of the proposed Rehabilitation Act;
and<BR><BR>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon all members of Congress,<BR>not to address the unjust law of Section 14(c) with ineffective<BR>measures, but to take direct action to abolish the reprehensible<BR>practice of subminimum-wage employment forever.<BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Nfbnet-members-list mailing list<BR><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:Nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org">Nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org</A></A><mailto:<A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank><A href="http://us.mc811.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Nfbnet-members-list@nfbnet.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank
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