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Since some people had problems opening up the attachments which were sent
out yesterday -- I am resending the material with everything in the body
of this message. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have
caused any of you.<br><br>
David Andrews<br><br>
<br>
<b>Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans:<br>
<div align="center">Priorities for the 113th Congress, FIRST Session<br>
</b> <br>
</div>
<br>
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the nation’s oldest and
largest nationwide organization of blind people. As the voice of
the nation’s blind, we represent the collective views of blind people
throughout society. All of our leaders and the vast majority of our
members are blind, but anyone can participate in our movement.
There are an estimated 1.3 million blind people in the United States, and
every year approximately 75,000 Americans become blind. <br>
<br>
<br>
<b>The NFB’s three legislative initiatives for 2013 are: <br>
</b> <br>
· <b>The Fair Wages for Workers
with Disabilities Act <br>
</b>This legislation phases out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
Act, which allows employers to pay disabled workers subminimum
wages. By ending this exploitative, discriminatory practice,
disabled Americans will receive equal protection under the law to earn at
least the federal minimum wage and reach their full employment
potential. <br>
· <b>The Technology, Education
and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act <br>
</b>Electronic instructional materials and related technology have
replaced traditional methods of learning in postsecondary settings.
Although it would be inexpensive to create e-books, courseware,
applications, and other educational devices and materials in accessible
formats, the overwhelming majority of these materials are inaccessible to
disabled students. This bill calls for minimum accessibility
standards for instructional materials, ending the “separate but equal”
approach to learning.<br>
· <b>Equal Access to Air Travel
for Service-Disabled Veterans (HR 164)<br>
</b>The Space Available Program allows active-duty military, Red Cross
employees, and retired members of the armed services to travel on
military aircraft if there is space available. HR 164 reverses the
exclusion of 100 percent service-disabled veterans who were discharged
before retirement and entitles them to the program’s
privileges. <br>
<br>
<br>
The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight; it is the
misunderstanding and lack of information that exist. Given the
proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a physical
nuisance. Blind Americans need your help to achieve these goals and
reach economic security and full integration into society.
Supporting these measures will benefit more than just the blind, as
promoting our economic welfare increases the tax base. We urge
Congress to hear our demands for equality and support these legislative
initiatives. <br><br>
<br>
<br>
<b>The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013<br>
<div align="center"> <br>
<br>
Current labor laws unjustly prohibit workers with disabilities <br>
from reaching their full socioeconomic potential.<br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
Written in 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
discriminates against people with disabilities </b>by allowing the
secretary of labor to grant Special Wage Certificates to employers,
permitting them to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum
wage. Despite enlightened civil rights legislation prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of disability, this antiquated provision is
still in force, with some disabled workers making only three cents an
hour. <br>
<b> <br>
The subminimum wage model actually benefits the employer, not the worker.
</b>Subminimum wage employers receive taxpayer and philanthropic dollars
because the public believes they are providing training and employment
for people with disabilities. The executives use the substantial
proceeds to compensate themselves with six-figure salaries on the backs
of disabled workers they pay pennies per hour. People who raise
their own standard of living while taking advantage of those who do not
have the same rights as every other American are engaging in
discrimination, not charity.<b> <br>
<br>
<a name="OLE_LINK2"></a>This discrimination persists because of the myths
that Section 14(c) is:<br>
</b> <br>
<b>Myth 1…a compassionate offering of meaningful work.</b> Although
the entities that engage in this practice demand the benefits that come
from being recognized as employers, subminimum wage work is not true
employment. These so-called employers offer days filled with
only repetitive drudgery for which workers are compensated with
third-world wages, leading disabled employees toward learned incapacity
and greater dependence on social programs.<br>
<br>
<b>Myth 2…an employment training tool for disabled workers. </b>Fewer<b>
</b>than 5 percent of workers with disabilities in subminimum wage
workshops will transition into integrated competitive work. In fact
data show that they must unlearn the skills they acquire in a subminimum
wage workshop in order to obtain meaningful employment. Therefore
Section 14(c) is a training tool that perpetuates ongoing
underemployment.<br>
<br>
<b>Myth 3…a controversial issue among the disability community. </b> More
than fifty disability-related organizations and counting support the
repeal of Section 14(c) of the FLSA, and many former subminimum wage
employers have abandoned the use of the Special Wage Certificate without
terminating anyone. Only entities profiting from this exploitive
practice refuse to acknowledge that it is discrimination.
<br>
<br>
<b>The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013: <br>
</b> <br>
<b>Discontinues the practice of issuing Special Wage
Certificates.</b> The secretary of labor will no longer issue
Special Wage Certificates to new applicants. <br>
<br>
<b>Phases out all remaining Special Wage Certificates over a three-year
period.</b> Entities currently holding Special Wage Certificates
will begin compensating their workers with disabilities at no less than
the federal minimum wage, using the following schedule: <br>
· private for-profit entities’
certificates will be revoked after one year; <br>
· public or governmental
entities’ certificates will be revoked after two years; and <br>
· nonprofit entities’
certificates will be revoked after three years. <br>
<br>
<b>Repeals Section 14(c) of the FLSA. </b>Three years after the law
is enacted, the practice of paying disabled workers subminimum wages will
be officially abolished, and workers with disabilities will no longer be
excluded from the workforce protection of a federal minimum wage.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div align="center"> <br>
<b>STOP THE DISCRIMINATION.<br>
Create opportunities for real work at real wages.<br>
<br>
Cosponsor the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act.<br>
</div>
<br>
</b><div align="center"> <br>
<b> <br>
<br>
For more information contact:<br>
</b>Anil Lewis, Director of Advocacy and Policy<br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2374 email:
<a href="mailto:alewis@nfb.org">alewis@nfb.org</a><br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<b>The Technology, Education, and Accessibility <br>
<div align="center">in College and Higher Education Act (TEACH)<br>
<br>
<br>
Inaccessible technology in the classroom creates a separate-but-equal
<br>
approach to learning that discriminates against disabled students. <br>
</div>
<br>
The evolution of technology has fundamentally changed the education
system. </b>The scope of instructional materials used to facilitate
the teaching and learning process at institutions of higher education has
expanded. Curricular content comes in the form of digital books,
PDFs, webpages, etc.; and most of this content is delivered through
technology such as courseware, library databases, digital software, and
applications. These advancements have revolutionized access to
information, but the majority of these materials are partially or
completely inaccessible to students with disabilities. <br>
<b> <br>
Barriers to access for disabled students create a separate-but-equal
approach to learning. </b>According to a 2009 Government
Accountability Office report, approximately 10.8 percent of students
enrolled in postsecondary institutions had some disability. The
mass deployment of inaccessible electronic instructional materials
creates barriers to learning for millions of disabled students.
When a website is not compatible with screen-access software, a blind
student is denied access to online course information; if nondisabled
students are using an inaccessible e-reader, a student who cannot read
print has to petition the school for an accessible device and thus
potentially different content. This approach to access is
discriminatory and places unnecessary barriers in the way of students
with disabilities. <br>
<br>
<b>Technology exists to remedy this discrimination, but postsecondary
institutions are not investing in accessibility. </b> Innovations
in text-to-speech, refreshable Braille, and other technologies have
created promise for equal access for disabled students; yet an
unacceptable number of postsecondary institutions do not make it a
priority to purchase accessible technology. Schools are buying
inaccessible instructional materials and then separate, accessible items
on an ad-hoc basis for students with disabilities. Some resort
merely to retrofitting the inaccessible technology, which sometimes makes
accessibility worse. Until postsecondary institutions harness their
purchasing power, the market for accessible instructional materials will
remain limited, and disabled students will continue to be left behind.
<br>
<b> <br>
Equality in the classroom is a civil right. </b>Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act
prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. The deployment
of inaccessible instructional materials violates these laws. <br>
<b>Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher
Education Act: <br>
</b> <br>
<b>Develops accessibility guidelines for instructional
materials.</b> The Access Board will consult experts and
stakeholders to develop technical specifications for electronic
instructional materials and related information technologies so that
those materials are usable by individuals with disabilities. <br>
<br>
<b>Establishes a minimum accessibility standard for instructional
materials used by the government and in postsecondary academic
settings. </b>The Department of Justice will implement the
guidelines developed by the Access Board as enforceable standards
applicable to all departments and agencies of the federal government and
institutions of higher education covered in Titles II and III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act. <br>
<b>Promotes competition while ensuring equality. </b>The guidelines
provide guidance to manufacturers on how to develop products that are
fully accessible to disabled users, and the required standards will
ensure that all colleges, universities, and federal agencies procure and
deploy only fully accessible instructional materials, ending the
separate-but-equal approach to learning. <br>
<br>
<br>
<div align="center"> <br>
<b>PROTECT EQUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM.<br>
<br>
Cosponsor the Technology, Education, and Accessibility<br>
in College and Higher Education Act (TEACH).<br>
</div>
<br>
</b><div align="center"> <br>
<b> <br>
For more information contact:<br>
</b>Lauren McLarney, Government Affairs Specialist<br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2207 email:
lmclarney@nfb.org<br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<b>Equal Access to Air Travel for Service-Disabled Veterans (HR 164)<br>
<div align="center"> <br>
<br>
The Space Available Program denies 100 percent of<br>
Service-Disabled Veterans the opportunity to participate.<br>
</div>
<br>
Discharged service-disabled veterans are not entitled to air travel
privileges to which other members of the military have access.
</b>The Space Available Program<b> </b>allows members of the active
military, some family members, Red Cross employees, and retired members
of the armed services to travel on military aircraft if space is
available. However, members of the military who are 100 percent
service disabled do not qualify for this program because they do not fall
into one of those categories.<br>
<br>
<b>This unintentional exclusion denies discharged service-disabled
veterans a privilege to which they would be entitled had they not been
disabled during service. </b>Those service members who are disabled
during active duty and are medically discharged do not have the chance to
stay on active duty or fulfill the twenty years requirement to become
qualified for this program. Had they not been medically discharged,
100 percent service-disabled veterans are likely to have served until
retirement. These men and women have earned the right to space-available
travel just as others have because they have defended our country.
<br>
<b> <br>
Equal Access to Air Travel for Service-Disabled Veterans would:
<br>
<br>
Provide travel privileges to totally disabled veterans. </b>This
bill amends Title 10 of the U.S. Code, to permit veterans who have a
service-connected, permanent disability rated as total to travel on
military aircraft in the same manner and to the same extent as retired
members of the Armed Forces entitled to such travel. <br>
<br>
<br>
<div align="center"> <br>
<b>HONOR OUR SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS WITH <br>
PRIVILEGES THEY ARE ENTITLED TO.<br>
<br>
Cosponsor HR 164.<br>
</b></div>
<br>
<div align="center"><b> <br>
To cosponsor the bill, contact:<br>
<br>
</b>Mirium Keim, Legislative Assistant<br>
Office of Congressman Bilirakis (R-FL)<br>
Phone: (202) 225-5755 email:
<a href="mailto:mirium.keim@mail.house.gov">mirium.keim@mail.house.gov</a>
<br>
<b> <br>
For more information contact:<br>
</b>Jesse Hartle, Government Affairs Specialist<br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2233 email:
<a href="mailto:jhartle@nfb.org">jhartle@nfb.org</a><br>
<br><br>
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