[Nfbmt] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] Tomorrow is our second #FixWIA Wednesday!

Wed Feb 5 04:40:50 UTC 2014

thanks dan for the contact info. I'll do it first thing in the morning.
On 2/4/2014 8:31 PM, Dan Burke wrote:
> FYI-
>
> Sheila just reminded me that there is no need to contact Max Baucus'
> office on the fixes we want for WIA.  When we met with his LA Jim
> Zadick last week, we were told that Max was wrapping up all
> legislative work.  With his confirmation passed out of committee
> today, it may only be amatter of days before he vacates his Senate
> post to be sworn in as Ambassador to China.
>
> So, here is Jon Tester's contact info. Pleas call or e-mail tomorrow to fix WIA:
>
>
> Jon Tester
> 724 Hart Senate Office Building
> Washington, DC 20510
> 202-224-2644
> or
> (866) 554-4403
>
> My best bet - Sierra Howlett, his LA for Labor and the person we met
> with a week ago, along with the Senator:
> <Sierra_Howlett at tester.senate.gov>
>
> If those don't suit you, here's some more:
> Online Message Form:
> http://www.tester.senate.gov/?p=email_senator
>
> Facebook:
> facebook.com/senatortester
>
> Twitter:
> @JonTester
> @TesterPress
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Sloan, Rose" <rsloan at nfb.org>
> Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:34:11 -0600
> Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Tomorrow is our second #FixWIA  Wednesday!
> To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
>
>
> Federation Family,
>
> Tomorrow is our second #FixWIA Wednesday. We had
> a very good campaign a few weeks ago, but
> unfortunately our Senators do not understand our concerns with WIA yet.
>
> During our last campaign, we had just over 150
> tweets with the hash tag #FixWIA. When we set our
> minds to something, there is nothing the
> Federation cannot accomplish. I am setting the
> goal of 250 tweets with the hash tag #FixWIA.
> When tweeting, do not forget to use your
> Senators' handles. You can find them, along with
> their Facebook pages here:
> <http://govsm.com/w/Senate>http://govsm.com/w/Senate.
>
> For those of you who prefer to e-mail your
> Senators, I have attached the letter I plan to
> send to my Senators. Please consider using this
> as a template. For those of you who prefer to
> call your Senators, feel free to use this email as a guide for your call.
>
> If you would like even more information about our
> concerns with WIA, please see our blog post at:
> <https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/fix-wia>https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/fix-wia.
>
> Thank you to everyone who helped out with our
> first #FixWIA campaign. We have invited other
> disability organizations to help with this
> effort-together I know we can come up with 250
> tweets that embed the hash tag #FixWIA.  Let your
> concerns about WIA be heard! Through our efforts,
> we can ensure that fewer people with disabilities
> are subjected to detrimental subminimum wage sheltered employment.
>
> If you have any questions, feel free to reach out
> to me at <mailto:rsloan at nfb.org>rsloan at nfb.org or
> by calling 410-659-9314 extension 2441.
>
> Thanks everyone,
>
> Rose
>
>
> February 5, 2014
>
> Dear Senator,
>
> I am writing to express my strong opposition to
> Section 511 of Title 5 of the reauthorization of
> the Workforce Investment Act (S. 1356).  My main
> concern is that Section 511 introduces subminimum
> wage employment into the Rehabilitation Act for
> the first time ever.  Even more importantly, the
> title of Section 511 is not reflected in the text
> of Section 511.  While the title claims to put
> limitations on employment of individuals with
> disabilities at subminimum wage, Subsection a (4)
> of the bill text allows anyone to enter subminimum wage sheltered employment.
>
> Senator, I have done my homework with respect to
> the impact of subminimum-wage sheltered
> employment on people with disabilities.  Studies
> show that people with disabilities who enter
> sheltered workshops rarely transition into
> competitive, community-integrated
> employment.  Even though the stated goal of WIA
> is to ensure community-integrated employment,
> subminimum wage employment is not a viable path
> to that goal.  Less than five percent of people
> with disabilities in subminimum wage sheltered
> employment receive a job in community-integrated
> employment.  Please strike Section 511 from WIA.
>
> Additionally, I am concerned about the proposed
> move of the Rehabilitation Services
> Administration (RSA) from the Department of
> Education to the Department of Labor.  Just as
> sheltered workshops focus on what people with
> disabilities cannot do, the Department of Labor
> looks at what a person can currently do without
> taking into consideration their potential to
> build further skills.  The role of the Department
> of Education is to educate, or teach people new
> skills.  I fear that if RSA is moved to Labor,
> people with disabilities will not be able to
> reach their full potential.  Furthermore, there
> is no research that shows that moving RSA to the
> Department of Labor will be more efficient for
> people with disabilities.  Why not save the money
> that would be spent to make the move, and put it
> towards improving the services that RSA provides?
>
> I hope that I can count on your support.  I
> sincerely feel that if you took the time to
> review Section 511 for yourself that you will
> realize that people with disabilities will be
> hindered by the current language in WIA.  Please
> offer an amendment that will strike Section 511
> and will remove the language that moves RSA from
> the Department of Education to the Department of Labor.
>
> I look forward to hearing back from you.  I fear
> that WIA may be coming to the floor soon.  Please
> contact me at <mailto:Rsloan at nfb.org>Rsloan at nfb.org.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Rose Sloan
>
>
> Rose Sloan
> Government Affairs Specialist
>
> "Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities"
> <http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages>http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages
>
> National Federation of the Blind
> 200 East Wells Street
> Baltimore, MD 21230
> rsloan at nfb.org
> (410)-659-9314 ext 2441
>
> The National Federation of the Blind needs your
> support to ensure blind children get an equal
> education; to connect blind veterans with the
> training and services they need; and to help
> seniors who are losing vision continue to live
> independent and fulfilling lives. To make a
> donation, please go to <http://www.nfb.org>www.nfb.org.
>
>
>
>