It's disappointing that there's an exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act that has been in place for 80 years that allows a loophole in federal law that allows companies to pay disabled workers $1 an hour. The Department of Labor took action against the company “after finding nearly 250 workers with disabilities were being exploited.”  Some workers earn as little as 4 cents an hour. I believe this is inhumane and unconstitutional this is not ok and something must be done about this. This is just one of the many problems the disability community faces on a daily basis.

​

So here is what we can do:

• Join Alaska, New Hampshire, and Maryland by no longer paying workers with disabilities less than Oregon's minimum hourly wage.

• Pressure the federal government to Pass the TIME Act. While the Fair Labor Standards Act created better wages and working conditions for most Americans, it contained a provision that excluded people with disabilities from its protections, especially the minimum wage. Nearly 80 years later, the law still contains that provision, known as Section 14(c). The Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act, or TIME Act, will phase out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) over a three-year period.

• Pressure the federal government to protect and expand the Social Security Disability Insurance Program (SSDI). Remove barriers to individuals who can’t afford a lawyer to help them apply for SSDI.

• Increase employment and educational opportunities for persons with disabilities - In the year 2019, it is unacceptable that over 80 percent of adults with disabilities are unemployed. Pressure the federal government to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and vocational education programs. Expand funding for Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs), which aim to provide “one-stop shopping” for information on long-term services and support.

• Aggressively enforcing the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, including for people with mental illness.

• Guarantee long-term care at home as a right to all Americans. Nobody should have to leave their home to receive long-term, necessary care. A modern healthcare system preserves the dignity of the people it treats.

• Fight for the U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

• Fight for federal marriage equality for individuals with disabilities.

• End all exceptions in wage laws and workplace protections for individuals with disabilities (beyond the reach of the TIME Act). Guarantee pay equity to all people, regardless of ability.

• Address the fundamental issue that people who need Long Term Services and support are forced into institutions and losing their basic civil rights. The legislation builds on the 25 years of work that ADAPT has done to end the institutional bias and provide seniors and people with disabilities home and community-based services as an alternative to institutionalization. 

• According to the Department of Justice, 1 in 5 inmates in prisons has a cognitive disability, while another 1 in 5 inmates has a serious mental illness. Instead of incarceration, we should be providing people with disabilities with the services and support they need to stay in the community, including mental health care and home- and community-based services. It is our moral responsibility to make it happen. 

• Fight for the U.S. to re-authorize the Autism CARES Act with provisions to increase the percentage of autism research funding allocated to the needs of autistic adults and services, grow the representation of autistic people and others with developmental disabilities in the Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities programs, and center the voices of autistic people in autism policy.