<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:12pt;"><div style="font-size:12pt;TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=5>On August 4<SUP>th</SUP>, the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut will conduct a protest to raise awareness about the practice of paying subminimum wages to Americans with disabilities. This protest will be held at the state office of Senator Richard Blumenthal who serves on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP). This committee is currently considering the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) which will reauthorize payment of subminimum wages to disabled workers. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></div>
<div style="font-size:12pt;TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=5><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The committee’s vote on this Act has been postponed a couple of times and is currently scheduled for after Congress’ August break. This Act contains language reauthorizing the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The Rehabilitation Act is supposed to provide services to disabled Americans so that they can obtain competitive employment, but Title V, Section 511 of the proposed Rehabilitation Act language reinforces Section 14(c) of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which allows certain entities holding special wage certificates to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></div>
<div style="font-size:12pt;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=5><FONT face=Tahoma><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>The NFB of CT would appreciate the support of anyone who can come out to help protest reauthorization of this practice and collect signatures for our petition regarding this issue. We will be at 30 Lewis Street, Hartford on Thursday, August 4<SUP>th</SUP> from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Posters and petitions will be available at the site. For more information and/or directions to Senator Blumenthal’s office building, please call our community outreach office at 860-289-1971 or email us at <a href="mailto:info@nfbct.org">info@nfbct.org</a>.</FONT></FONT></div></span></body></html>