[Nfbsatx] Fwd: [Nfbnet-master-list] 2012 Washington Seminar Materials

[Jose Martinez]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:44:24 -0600
Subject: [Nfbnet-master-list] 2012 Washington Seminar Materials
To: nfbnet-master-list at nfbnet.org










Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans:
Priorities for the 112th Congress, SECOND Session


The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the
oldest and largest nationwide organization of
blind people in the United States.  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.


The NFB’s three legislative initiatives for 2012 are:

·        The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2011 (H.R. 3086)
H.R. 3086 phases out Section 14(c) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act, which allows employers to
pay disabled workers subminimum wages.  This bill
will end this exploitative practice, giving
disabled Americans equal protection under the law
to earn at least the federal minimum wage.
·        The Home Appliance Accessibility Act (HAAA)
Despite the existence of nonvisual access
technology, the overwhelming majority of home
appliance manufacturers are selling touch-screen,
flat panel, and digital home appliances that are
completely inaccessible to the blind.  HAAA calls
for a study and minimum nonvisual access standard
for essential home appliances to protect blind
consumers from the growing digital divide that threatens our independence.
·        The Americans with Disabilities Business Opportunity Act (ADBOA)
Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act allows
businesses owned by socially disadvantaged groups
to obtain federal contracts.  Although two-thirds
of Americans with disabilities are unemployed or
underemployed, disabled people are currently not
presumed to be socially disadvantaged.  ADBOA
amends Section 8(a) to add disabled Americans to
the list of those who are presumed to be socially disadvantaged.


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.









The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2011
H.R. 3086


Disabled workers have been unfairly excluded from the federal minimum wage
for 74 years, and today over 300,000 disabled workers
are working for subminimum wages.


Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA) discriminates against people with
disabilities.  This section allows the Secretary
of Labor to grant special wage certificates to
employers, permitting them to pay their workers
with disabilities less than the minimum wage,
often in sheltered work environments.  In some
instances disabled workers are being paid pennies per hour.

This discrimination is rooted in low expectations
based on misconceptions about the capabilities of
disabled people. The law falsely implies that
people with disabilities cannot be productive
employees, and subminimum wage employers prey on
society’s misconception that disabled people are
incapable of being competitively employed. In
reality,  when provided the proper rehabilitation
training and tools, workers with disabilities can
be productive and financially independent.

Subminimum wage supports an outdated business
model that fosters the underemployment of workers
with disabilities.  Section 14(c) was only to be
used “to the extent necessary to prevent
curtailment of opportunities” for employment of
people with disabilities.  Instead,
subminimum-wage sheltered workshops have eroded
into day custody centers, limiting opportunities
for workers with disabilities ever to transition
into integrated, competitive work.  These
institutions instill a philosophy of incapacity,
which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
resulting in long-term underemployment.

The sheltered work system is a cash cow for the
subminimum wage employer.  Many employers insist
that paying the minimum wage to disabled
employees would result in lack of profitability
and a reduction in their workforce, but most
benefit from philanthropic donations, preferred
status when bidding on federal contracts, and
federal funding.  Moreover, while their disabled
workers receive subminimum wages that are
subsidized by Social Security and public
assistance, some workshop executives are earning
salaries far above industry norms.  The economics
overwhelmingly favor subminimum wage employers,
encouraging the perpetuation of subminimum wage
employment and leaving workers with disabilities
little to no choice for real employment.

The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2011:

Discontinues the practice of issuing special wage
certificates.  The secretary of labor will no
longer issue special wage certificates to new applicants.

Phases out all remaining special wage
certificates over a 3-year period.  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:
·        private for-profit entities’
certificates will be revoked after 1 year;
·        public or governmental entities’
certificates will be revoked after 2 years; and
·        non-profit entities’ certificates will be revoked after 3 years.

Repeals Section14(c) of the FLSA.  Three years
after the law is enacted, the practice of paying
disabled workers subminimum wage will be
officially abolished, and workers with
disabilities will no longer be excluded from the
workforce protection of a federal minimum wage.



STOP THE DISCRIMINATION
PROMOTE EQUAL WORK FOR EQUAL PAY

Cosponsor the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act
H.R. 3086





For more information contact:
Anil Lewis, Director of Strategic Communications
National Federation of the Blind
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2374    E-mail:
<mailto:alewis at nfb.org>alewis at nfb.org


To cosponsor the bill, contact:
James Thomas in Congressman Cliff Stearns’s office
Phone: (202) 225-5744    E-mail:
<mailto:james.thomas at mail.house.gov>james.thomas at mail.house.gov
-or-
Tim Powers in Congressman Tim Bishop’s office
Phone: (202) 225-3826    E-mail:
<mailto:tim.powers at mail.house.gov>tim.powers at mail.house.gov









The Home Appliance Accessibility Act


Digital technology has improved the ease and efficiency of the way
we live our lives­but now blind people can no longer operate
most fundamental home appliances.


Home appliance manufacturers are constantly
incorporating advanced technology into their
products.  Most new stoves, dishwashers, washing
machines, and other home appliances require
interaction with digital displays, flat panels,
touch screens, and other user interfaces that are
inaccessible to people who are blind or have low
vision.  Knobs, buttons, and other tactile methods of use are disappearing.

Technology exists to make home appliances
accessible to blind people.  Manufacturers often
claim nonvisual access cannot be achieved, but
text-to-speech technology is inexpensive and more
prevalent than it has ever been­Apple has
incorporated VoiceOver (a text-to-speech
function) into its touch-screen products, making
the iPhone, iPod, and iPad fully accessible to
blind people right out of the box.  All ATMs
manufactured in the United States are accessible,
and every polling place provides a nonvisually
accessible voting machine.  Frequently, a simple
audio output or vibrotactile feature can make a
product fully accessible at minimal cost, as well
as more dynamic and appealing for all users.

Unfortunately most manufacturers refuse to
incorporate nonvisual access technology in their
products.  Companies claim that adding
accessibility features is too expensive, but no
public data demonstrate that claim.  Furthermore,
it is proven to be more cost effective to include
accessibility features during the design phase
rather than after, but manufacturers generally do
not invest in this approach.  Simply put, if
companies include access technology in the design
of home appliances, they will sell more products.

No laws exist to require companies to make home
appliances accessible.  Although the Americans
with Disabilities Act and many other laws mandate
physical accessibility for people with
disabilities (e.g., wheelchair ramps, Braille in
public buildings), no laws protect blind
consumers’ right to access to fundamental home
appliances.  This trend of inaccessibility will
continue to grow as technology becomes more
advanced and accessibility solutions are ignored.


The Home Appliance Accessibility Act:

Calls on the Access Board to conduct a
study.  The Access Board (a small government
agency fully equipped with the resources to
review the current marketplace, consult with
stakeholders, and commission research on issues
of access) will issue a report with findings and
recommendations for a minimum nonvisual access
standard for home appliances and at-home medical equipment.

Establishes a minimum nonvisual access standard
for home appliances.  Six months after the Access
Board publishes the above-mentioned report, the
Board will begin a rulemaking period, not to
exceed 36 months, to establish a minimum
nonvisual access standard for home
appliances.  The final standard will go into
effect three years after the rule is finalized.

Gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
authority to enforce the standard.  Having
already been given consumer protection
enforcement powers by Congress, the FTC will
handle violations, conduct investigations, and
levy civil penalties against manufacturers who
fail to comply with the standard.

Provides flexibility to manufacturers.  The
legislation does not mandate a single,
one-size-fits-all solution for all
products.  Additionally, manufacturers who can
demonstrate that meeting a minimum nonvisual
access standard creates an undue burden and
companies with gross annual sales less than $250,000 are exempt from the law.


END THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

Sponsor the Home Appliance Accessibility Act





For more information contact:
Lauren McLarney, Government Programs Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2207    E-mail:
<mailto:lmclarney at nfb.org>lmclarney at nfb.org










The Americans with Disabilities Business Opportunity Act


According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than two-thirds of
Americans with disabilities are unemployed
or vastly underemployed.


The Small Business Act (SBA) is meant to promote
an entrepreneurial spirit.  To a substantial
degree America’s economic success is tied to the
freedom to engage in entrepreneurial activity and
create one’s own wealth.  It has long been the
policy of the United States to promote the
economic well-being of traditionally
disadvantaged groups by creating a variety of
business incentive programs that allow these
groups to participate in the mainstream of the nation’s economy.

Section 8(a) of the SBA is a powerful program
allowing businesses owned by racial, cultural,
and ethnic minorities or women to secure federal
contracts.  However, this program is not extended
to Americans with disabilities.  Individuals with
disabilities seeking 8(a) certification must take
on the onerous task of proving that they are
socially and economically disadvantaged, while
individuals who are from a racial, cultural, or
ethnic minority or women are presumed to be socially disadvantaged.

Census Bureau statistics indicate that people
with disabilities occupy an inferior status in
our society and are severely disadvantaged
socially, vocationally, economically, and
educationally.  Yet physical or mental
disabilities in no way diminish a person's right
to participate fully in all aspects of
society.  Many people with disabilities have been
precluded from doing so because of commonly held
misconceptions about their abilities.  The
continued exclusion from these programs denies
people with disabilities the opportunity to
compete on an equal basis and to pursue those
opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous.

Disabled people are also excluded from federal
procurement practices.  Under current law
businesses attempting to secure large federal
contracts must guarantee that they will
subcontract a portion of the work to small
businesses that are owned by traditionally
disadvantaged populations.  Again individuals
with disabilities are not considered a
traditionally disadvantaged population; thus
businesses owned by individuals with disabilities
cannot benefit from these entrepreneurial opportunities.


The Americans with Disabilities Business Opportunity Act:

Amends section 8(a).  People with disabilities
will be added to the list of those who are
presumed to be socially disadvantaged.  Doing
this will extend the opportunity to secure
federal contracts to disabled people.

Changes federal procurement
practices.  For-profit businesses attempting to
secure large federal contracts can satisfy
procurement requirements by subcontracting with
businesses owned by individuals with disabilities.



HELP UNLEASH THE ENTREPRENEURIAL CAPABILITIES
OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

Sponsor the Americans with Disabilities Business Opportunity Act





For more information contact:
Jesse Hartle, Government Programs Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2233    E-mail:
<mailto:jhartle at nfb.org>jhartle at nfb.org