[Nfbnet-members-list] Workforce Investment Act Sabotages Rehabilitation Act Proposed Changes Would Trap Disabled Workers in Subminimum-Wage Employment, Threaten Rehabilitation System

[David Andrews]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
National Federation of the Blind:
Workforce Investment Act Sabotages Rehabilitation Act
Proposed Changes Would Trap Disabled Workers
in Subminimum-Wage Employment, Threaten Rehabilitation System
Baltimore, Maryland (July 29, 2013): <http://www.nfb.org/>The 
National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest nationwide 
organization of blind people, expressed its strong opposition to 
changes to the Rehabilitation Act contained in the proposed Workforce 
Investment Act (S.1356), which has been introduced in the United 
States Senate and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor and Pensions (the HELP Committee). The bill is scheduled for a 
committee vote on Wednesday.
Dr. Marc Maurer, president of 
<http://www.facebook.com/NationalFederationoftheBlind>the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: "The proposed changes to the 
Rehabilitation Act contained in the Workforce Investment Act 
reauthorization will do irreparable damage to our nation's 
rehabilitation system and to the blind people and other Americans 
with disabilities whom it serves. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, the 
HELP Committee chairman, is leading the effort to include a new 
provision, Section 511, which would, for the first time, authorize 
rehabilitation agencies to place workers with disabilities in 
<http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages>subminimum-wage employment. This 
provision purports to introduce protections to limit the number of 
youth with disabilities who are placed in subminimum wage employment, 
but will have the unintended effect of trapping people with 
disabilities in dead-end, segregated, subminimum-wage jobs with the 
blessing of the rehabilitation system. We urge that this section be 
removed in its entirety.
"We also oppose ranking committee member Senator Lamar Alexander's 
effort to move the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) from 
the Department of Education to the Department of Labor. 
Rehabilitation is a comprehensive program serving people with 
disabilities from childhood to adulthood, so it should remain within 
the jurisdiction of the Department of Education. Furthermore, the 
HELP Committee has provided no analysis or evidence showing that this 
change would increase employment of people with disabilities. At the 
very least, such a dramatic move requires study and analysis. We 
strongly urge members of the HELP Committee and the Senate to oppose 
these radical and unwarranted changes to our nation's rehabilitation 
programs."
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About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the oldest, largest, 
and most influential nationwide membership organization of blind 
people in the United States. Founded in 1940, the NFB advocates for 
the civil rights and equality of blind Americans, and develops 
innovative education, technology, and training programs to provide 
the blind and those who are losing vision with the tools they need to 
become independent and successful. We need your support. To make a 
donation, please go to <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.
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