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Fellow Federationists:<br>
<br>
Tomorrow, Feb. 26, we will host another #FixWIA Wednesday. A few weeks
ago, we had our best campaign yetwe, with the help of TASH and APSE,
generated over 600 tweets with the hashtag #FixWIA! Unfortunately, our
Senators still do not understand our concerns with WIA. <br>
<br>
As you know, we are concerned with two aspects of the Senate’s version of
the reauthorization of Workforce Investment Act (WIA). First, Section 511
of Title V brings the payment of subminimum wages to people with
disabilities into the Rehabilitation Act for the first time. Second,
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) will be transferred from the
Department of Education to the Department of Labor. No research shows
that this move will improve services for people with disabilities, and we
fear that services will be less effective. If you would like more
information about our concerns with WIA, please see our blog post at:
<a href="https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/fix-wia">
https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/fix-wia</a>. <br>
<br>
Participating in #FixWIA Wednesday is simple! All you have to do is
generate a few tweets expressing your concerns with WIA by tagging your
senators and using the hashtag #FixWIA. You can find the handles of your
Senators here:
<a href="http://govsm.com/w/Senate">http://govsm.com/w/Senate</a>. Feel
free to customize the below tweets with your Senators’ handles. <br>
<br>
@SenatorDurbin, will you #FixWIA? Please #Strike511 and keep RSA in the
@usedgov. Americans with Disabilities are counting on you.<br>
<br>
@SenatorBarb Section 14(c) is discriminatory. Don't ease it, end it.
#Strike511. #FixWIA.<br>
<br>
@SenJohnsonSD, Quality education and rehabilitation lead to competitive
integrated employment. Keep RSA in @usedgov. #FixWIA.<br>
<br>
@SenJohnBarrasso, Shaking up the #rehabact without data & research
could adversely affect millions of PWDs. #FixWIA. Keep RSA in
@usedgov.<br>
<br>
@SenFeinstein, Sec. 511 puts subminimum wages of Sec. 14(c) of the FLSA
into the #RehabAct. Please #FixWIA. #Strike511.<br>
<br>
@StabenowPress, do you support equal pay for people with disabilities?
#FixWIA. #Strike511.<br>
<br><br>
<h3><b>Last time, the Association of People Supporting Employment First
(APSE) activated their membership to help us reach 600 tweets. They have
the same concerns with WIA that we do. In fact, APSE and the NFB will be
hosting a Twitter Chat on Thursday Feb. 27 from 1-2 PM Eastern about
subminimum wages and President Obama’s recent Executive Order. I
encourage anyone who can to please participate in the chat by tweeting
questions and concerns about subminimum wages. The hashtag for this event
is #EmploymentFirst. </b></h3> <br>
Thank you to everyone who participated in our previous #FixWIA campaigns.
I know the more #FixWIA Wednesdays we do, the more tweets we will be able
to generate. The more tweets we generate, the more our Senators will
become aware of our concerns. Once Senators understand our concerns,
change will happen. Let your concerns be heard! Through our efforts, we
can ensure that fewer people with disabilities are subjected to
detrimental subminimum wage sheltered employment. <br>
<br>
If you have any questions about #FixWIA Wednesday or the twitter chat,
feel free to reach out to me at
<a href="mailto:rsloan@nfb.org">rsloan@nfb.org</a> or by calling
410-659-9314 extension 2441. <br>
<br>
Thanks everyone,<br>
<br>
Rose<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>Rose Sloan<br>
</b>Government Affairs Specialist<br>
<br>
<b>NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<br>
</b>200 East Wells Street<br>
Baltimore, Maryland 21230<br>
Phone: (410)-659-9314 ext. 2441<br>
E-mail: <a href="mailto:rsloan@nfb.org">rsloan@nfb.org</a><br>
Twitter: @RoseSloan8<br>
<br>
“Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities” <br>
<a href="http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages">http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages</a>
<br>
<b> <br>
</b>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
<a href="http://www.nfb.org/">www.nfb.org</a>.<br>
<br>
<br>
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