[Ctabs] One Simple Email – Fix WIA Wednesday

Tue Jan 14 21:16:54 UTC 2014

Fellow Federationists:

                We know it only takes two minutes, and I want to make it even easier for everyone by providing the phone numbers you need to call the offices.  I have also included, in this order, a sample voicemail message, background information, and a sample email message.
If you’re too nervous to talk to a human, you can still send emails and call outside business hours to leave a voicemail.  We need the message heard!  Do not be afraid to be a nag!  We want them to hear the issue so many times that they can explain it in their sleep.

Phone Numbers
Senator Chris Murphy: (202) 224-4041
Senator Richard “Dick” Blumenthal: (202) 224-2823

Sample Voicemail Message:
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Hi! My name is Rose Sloan, and I am a constituent of Senator Durbin.  I am calling to express my objection to language in S. 1356, the Workforce Investment Act.  Please ask the Senator to offer an amendment that will strike Section 511 of Title V., which endorses segregated subminimum wage training and employment, and to remove the language that diminishes the quality of rehabilitation services by transferring the Rehabilitation Services Administration from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor. Thank you!
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Background Information:
Over the summer the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) S. 1356 was passed by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.  We have been told that this bill may be coming to the Senate floor for a vote soon, and it is being pre-conferenced with members of the U.S. House of Representatives.  There are aspects of this bill that we need the Senate to fix before it becomes law.

We are designating this Wednesday, January 15, 2014 as #FixWIA Wednesday.  We are respectfully requesting that you call, email, fax, tweet, or Facebook your Members of Congress expressing your feelings about WIA (S. 1356).  Please use the hash tag #FixWIA with all of your social media messaging.

As the saying goes: "nothing about us, without us" –if we do not act now, the discriminatory language in Section 511 of Title V., and the misguided relocation of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) will become the law of the land.  Let your voices be heard. Contact your Members of Congress.

Read the Fix WIA blog post at: https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/fix-wia to get more information about the issue, and get ready to #FixWIA on this Wednesday, January 15, 2014.  Additional information will be sent soon.

Sample Email Message:

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Dear Senator Durbin,

I am writing to voice my concerns about S. 1356, the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).  Although I know the reauthorization of WIA is overdue, I just cannot support the current bill as it is written.

During the 1990s, the disability community fought really hard for language that would *not *allow a vocational rehabilitation case to be closed by a placement in a sheltered workshop. The current bill language of Section 511, a controversial section among the disability community, will allow vocational rehabilitation counselors to successfully close cases by placing their clients in subminimum-wage sheltered workshops.  Subminimum-wage sheltered work does not come close to adequately training people with disabilities for mainstream competitive employment.  In fact, research shows that people with disabilities have to *unlearn *the habits taught in sheltered workshops in order to get a mainstream job.  Ninety-five percent of people with disabilities who enter sheltered workshops never obtain the employment they are being “trained” for.  In other words, once a person with disability is placed in a sheltered workshop, their full potential is almost never reached.  They must remain on public assistance for the rest of their lives.

I am also concerned with the bill language moving the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor. There is no research that shows this move will improve the efficiency and outcomes of the RSA.  It is important to keep in mind that everyone needs an education before he/she obtains a job.  For many, this education comes in the form of college and/or graduate school.  For people with severe disabilities, this might mean having access to quality rehabilitation services to develop their unique skills and talents.  This process is an educational process—RSA should stay in the Department of Education.

Senator Durbin, I need your help.  Please consider offering an amendment that will strike Section 511 of Title V of WIA, and remove the language that transfers RSA from Education to Labor.

Thank you.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach me at rsloan at nfb.org<mailto:rsloan at nfb.org>.

Sincerely,

Rose Sloan

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Yours,

Justin Salisbury

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