[VABS] 2022 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FROM THE BLIND OF VIRGINIA

André Hill andrehill6188 at gmail.com
Mon Jan 17 13:57:40 UTC 2022


Here is a list of the priorities for this legislative session:



Priority 1: Enable equal access to learning tools by students with
disabilities

Action: Co-Sponsor HB ___ (Patron Delegate Kathy Tran)

Issue: Students with disabilities use the same education technology as their
peers. While there is a robust market for education technology,
accessibility for students with disabilities is not a factor in the product
selection process by Virginia school boards, despite the existence of
widespread accessibility standards for over twenty years. As a result,
school boards are purchasing technology that cannot be used by students
with disabilities. Since much of a student's academic experience is tied to
technology deployed by schools (including classroom materials, testing,
portals for grades, and homework), it is critical for these products to be
accessible to students with disabilities. With the recent shift to virtual
learning during the pandemic, this access challenge for students with
disabilities has increased. Currently, teachers are forced to develop
one-off solutions to address systemic challenges with technology
acquisitions made at the district level.

Solution: HB xx shifts accountability to education technology vendors.
First, the bill will require local school boards to include accessibility
requirements in the procurement process. Second, the bill will require that
vendors indemnify the purchaser for costs arising from any lack of product
accessibility. Third, the bill will require school boards to prioritize the
purchase of education technology that best meets accessibility standards
while taking into consideration costs and lack of alternatives. Fourth, the
bill will require vendors to remediate inaccessibility issues within 180
days' notice. Finally, the bill will require that school boards and the
Department of Education track accessibility and remediation efforts and
make such information publicly available to all school boards.



Priority 2: Enable blind Virginians to become employed and live
independently

Action: Support the Governor's budget proposal for the Department for the
Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI).

Issue: DBVI provides vocational rehabilitation (VR) training, leading to
employment of Virginians who are blind, deaf/blind, and vision impaired.
DBVI does not have dedicated funding for the state's share of
Federal-matching VR services and state funding has not increased for 20
years. In FY2023, DBVI anticipates a wait list of 12 months to provide VR
services for approximately 200 adults and 400 potentially underserved
students.

Solution: In 2020, the General Assembly approved additional funds to support
DBVI VR and employment services, but these funds were unallotted due to
COVID-19. The Governor's budget request includes approximately $842,000 for
such services. This funding will help ensure the availability of sufficient
funds needed to serve blind Virginians who require VR services because it
will reduce the waiting list and assure a source of matching funds for the
federal VR grant.



Priority 3: Support disability employment by adding Virginians with
disabilities to the existing local jurisdiction Veterans Preference

Action: Co-Sponsor HB 710 (Patron Delegate Mark Keam)


Issue: 10% of Virginians have a disability as defined by the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Employment enables people with disabilities to use their
talents and become taxpaying citizens; however, people with disabilities
continue to be underrepresented in the workforce. According to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 18% of people with a disability nationwide were employed
in 2020 compared to 62% of people without a disability. In many cases,
otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities are passed over for jobs
due to a commonly held misconception that people with disabilities cannot
perform a job as well as someone who does not have a disability.

Solution: HB 710 will add hiring of people with disabilities who are
otherwise qualified for the job as a priority for local governments to the
existing program for prioritizing the hiring of Veterans and Veterans with
disabilities. This bill will give people with disabilities who are otherwise
qualified for a job an opportunity to overcome the misconception that they
cannot perform jobs at a high level.




Priority 4: Promote competitive, integrated employment for workers with
disabilities

Action: Co-Sponsor HB 676 (Patron Delegate Patrick Hope)

Issue: Section 14(c) of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act allows certain
employers in the United States to pay workers with disabilities wages that
are lower than the minimum wage (subminimum wages). These employers, which
generally are non-profit organizations, often do not teach skills necessary
for their employees with disabilities to transition to competitive,
integrated employment, thus trapping otherwise capable people with
disabilities in jobs paying as little as twenty-two cents an hour. A growing
number of 14(c) employers have already stopped relying on Section 14(c) and
have voluntarily withdrawn their certificates, resulting in their employees
with disabilities receiving the minimum wage or higher. Ten states have also
passed legislation limiting or barring the payment of subminimum wages for
people with disabilities and both Republican and Democratic parties'
national platforms have included elimination of the 14(c) subminimum wage
exemption for people with disabilities.

Solution: HB 676 will eliminate the reference to Section 14(c) in the
Virginia minimum wage law, which will require Virginia employers with a
federal 14(c) certificate to pay workers with a disability at least the
Virginia minimum wage unless another exception under Virginia law applies
such as the "tipped employee" exception.


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