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National Coalition Examines Threats to Employment Choice
MASWM Legislative Chair recently led a meeting of the Coalition to Preserve Employment Choice which focused on state and national issues facing workshops and other services for people with disabilities.
The meeting began with reports from legislative consultant organizations K&L Gates and the 535 Group, which also work directly with MASWM.
Amy Carnevale of K&L Gates began with a proposed Raise the Wage Act, which would require higher minimum wages, including for people with I/DD disabilities that would likely lead to closing of most workshops and similar service organizations. Parents of people with disabilities, who founded many of these organizations did so because they knew the availability of this employment choice in a safe environment was more important than higher wages, which could also put their benefits like health insurance at risk.
Symbolic?
Carnevale added that the current Raise the Wage bill seems unlikely to succeed and is more of a political effort. “It’s more of a political messaging bill,” she said. “But I wouldn’t say that it means we weren’t effective in getting our message out.”
If it continues in the pipeline, there will likely be numerous amendments to make it look a lot differently, several noted. However, proposed bills like this must be carefully followed.
Another federal issue doesn’t deal directly with workshops but is relevant - a government shutdown later this year. “The odds of a government shutdown has increased greatly,” said Nelson Litterest of the 535 Group. “That could end up being a big problem in December.”
Widespread Efforts
Brewer also said that the Coalition, MASWM members and others are working diligently, with a big focus on increasing communication with national leaders. He noted a series of meetings recently held with national leaders by MASWM members. Other reports came from North Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Several trends stood out. The report earlier this year by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) offered some of the first hard data on the realities for people with disabilities following closure of workshops: many don’t find long-term employment despite the promise of community employment. For a long time, reports by some individual states and many vendors (day program operators, etc.) lack or ignore hard data on such re-employment trends.
Another issue raised by Coalition member Don Palmer involved the claim that Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (which allows commensurate wages) is nothing but a “training program” from which every participant should graduate. “That’s just not true,” he said. While the section includes training programs, those with disabilities are separate and, additionally, intellectual and developmental disabilities “don’t go away.”
The meeting ended with Brewer reminding participants that the current, late-summer period is a generally quiet time for federal and state legislators who are out of session. Meetings, tours and phone calls are important not just to exchange information but to develop relationships. “We must have respect for people who put themselves out there in public, but they’re just people too. Pick up the phone and give them a call!”
MASWM involvement with the Coalition dates back several years and includes other members in addition to Brewer.