National Federation of the Blind Urges the U.S. Senate to Fix WIA (#fixwia) Factsheet on the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) S. 1356 Summary of: https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/fix-wia Background on WIA: • S. 1356 reported favorably by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee—may go to the Senate floor in the fall for a vote. • Many policymakers are supporting the reauthorization as written out of respect to HELP Committee Chairman Senator Harkin (D, IA) and HELP Committee Ranking Member Senator Alexander (R, TN)—but many disability organizations, the stakeholders, do not support the language of Section 511. Background on Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): • Allows employers to obtain Special Wage Certificates that permit them to legally pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. • Creates an environment of low expectations which has trapped over 400,000 people with disabilities in sheltered, segregated, subminimum-wage work environments. • Some workers are paid only pennies per hour. Section 511 as written: • Links the Rehabilitation Act, which was established to assist people with disabilities in obtaining competitive integrated employment, with the antiquated practices of Section 14(c) of the FLSA • Would hinder enforcement of the Olmstead (community integration) decision • Is opposed by a growing number of disability organizations—the stakeholders • If struck from WIA, disability organizations that currently support S. 1356 would still support it Transferring the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to the Department of Labor (DOL): • The expressed intent of the transfer is to “shake things up”—but no data, research, or cost/benefit analysis assesses the effects of the transfer. • The mission and strategies of DOL are necessarily distinct from those of the Department of Education (ED). • Most nondisabled persons receive their “rehabilitation services” through the education system— the RSA fills the gap within the ED by providing quality rehabilitation training and support services to maximize the employment potential of persons with disabilities. • DOL assesses individuals’ skills, may provide some training, and then uses a turnkey model to help find employment—this system is insufficient for people with disabilities because it can take months or years for an individual to adjust to his/her disability. • Rehabilitation professionals do not support the move of RSA from the ED to the DOL. Fix WIA: Members of the U.S. Senate should strike Section 511 from S. 1356, and the transfer of RSA to the Department of Labor should be suspended until sufficient research has been conducted. Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A. Director of Advocacy and Policy
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 14:05:19 +0000
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