[nfbwatlk] FW: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Fix WIA Wednesday is Tomorrow!

Wed Feb 5 03:22:18 UTC 2014

Fellow NFB of Washington members:

WE are again conducting a "Fix WIA" event tomorrow, February 5. We are to
call or email our senators (in this case, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell),
urging them to vote to delete Title V, Section 511 from S-1356, the bill
which reauthorizes the Workforce Investment (WIA) Act. This section is
intended to limit use of subminimum wage certificates for workers with
disabilities established under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor standards
Act. But since there is no current mention of such certificates in the
current WIA (which contains the Rehabilitation act), if the section is left
in S-1356, for the first time the Rehab Act would recognize these subminimum
wage certificates. Better to just phase out Section 14(c) of theFair Labor
Standards Act altogether as is proposed by HR-831.

We are also asking our senators to delete the provision in S-1356 which
would move the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) from the
Department of Education to the Department of Labor. WE (along with both
associations of state rehabilitation agencies) oppose this proposal since
the Department of Labor specializes in placements in short-term employment
rather than in true rehabilitation.

So the message we are to convey to Senators Murray and Cantwell is: Please
vote to remove Title V, Section 511 from S-1356 and please vote to remove
the provision from this bill which would move RSA from the Department of
Education to the Department of Labor.

Senator Murray's DC office telephone number is (202) 224-2621 and Senator
Cantwell's DC office telephone number is (202) 224-3441.

Let's tell our senators to Fix WIA!

See below.

Mike Freeman

From: Nfb-legislative-directors
[mailto:nfb-legislative-directors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sloan,
Rose
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 2:14 PM
To: 'Nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org'
Subject: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Fix WIA Wednesday is Tomorrow!

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

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.

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