The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, section 14(c), permits some disabled persons to be paid cents per hour. The practice would be discontinued by a new rule that the Department of Labor has proposed. According to a proposal made public last week, the federal government would phase down existing certificates that permit businesses to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage over a three-year period and cease issuing new ones.
One of the long-standing campaign pledges made by President Joe Biden is being partially fulfilled by the idea. The rule must first pass a public comment period, which is anticipated to end on January 17, a few days before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office, before it can go into force. Conservative circles have differing views on the subminimum wage for individuals with disabilities, and the disability community may see progress on the issue under a Republican president and Republican-controlled Congress, even though many executive actions taken by the Biden administration will probably be overturned or ignored under Trump.
The progress of the rule might be contingent on Trump’s choice of Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor. Her stance is uncertain because no legislation pertaining to the handicapped subminimum wage was put to a vote when she was in Congress. According to several people who work on disability policy on the Hill, Chavez-DeRemer saw genuine potential for advancement under her leadership and was neither opposed to eliminating the practice nor particularly adamant about it. An attempt to contact Chavez-DeRemer for comment was unsuccessful.
The Republicans who have opposed subminimum wages the most in Congress are Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana. The matter is personal for McMorris Rodgers, as she has discussed in interviews the value of integrating individuals with impairments into society and her son, Cole, has Down syndrome. Others, such as Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, are strong proponents of the handicapped subminimum wage because they believe it will allow more individuals to work, even if they are unable to find employment at market rates.
According to Rachel Barkley, director of Able Americans, one of the few conservative think tank initiatives devoted only to disability policy, there isn’t much evidence on the record that suggests what the Trump administration would do. The National Center for Public Policy Research, one of the numerous conservative groups that helped create Project 2025, is where it is located.
Barkley views the conservative resistance to a subminimum wage for individuals with impairments as a small one.
I believe that you prioritize the individual’s dignity, which is a fundamental conservative tenet. For instance, when someone discusses the right to life, you consider the equality of all people and their legal rights. She stated that everyone must be treated equally under the law, with no exceptions made for those with impairments.
Able Americans published a report in August on conservative disability policy options that did not express support or opposition to the subminimum wage. When asked why, Barkley said that the workforce is aging and fewer individuals are entering disability subminimum wage jobs. The affected population is little, and if it continues to decline, the problem might be rendered irrelevant. The federal Government Accountability Office reported that over 300,000 disabled workers were legally receiving subminimum wages in 2010. The same data states that 122,000 disabled subminimum wage workers were employed in 2019. An estimated 37,000 disabled subminimum wage workers will still be employed in 2024.
That represents 0.006 percent of all Americans with disabilities. “I believe that when we consider how to help people with disabilities enter, stay, and advance in the workplace, we need to address larger employment issues like workplace flexibility and wraparound services like health care and transportation,” she added.
Barkley was involved in the congresswoman’s attempts to outlaw the practice while she was a top staffer for McMorris Rodgers. She believes that the disabled subminimum wage will eventually vanish.
These days, if you have a child with a disability, they are accepted into the community and integrated into their education from an early age. According to Barkley, cultural perceptions have significantly altered what is expected of people with impairments in the labor market.
If they are aware of it at all, ordinary conservatives are likewise divided on the matter. Due to a lack of polling, it is impossible to determine the number of people who are in favor of or against the disabled subminimum wage. Conservatives with impairments themselves, meanwhile, could be more likely to be against it.
The 67-year-old Maryann Denning has been involved in an effort to stop the practice in Ohio. Legislation to phase out the program has been passed in more than a dozen states. Ohio isn’t one of them yet.
Although Denning, who has been blind since birth, has never held a job paying less than minimum wage, she has school friends who did. She views the issue as involving equality of opportunity, human dignity, and the need for less government spending.
I believe that my objective is to provide employment opportunities to any disabled individual who desires them. Those of us with impairments become tax-paying citizens if we are fully employed. According to Denning, we get better at living the American Dream.
She also noted that individuals with impairments will require less government assistance if they earn more money on their own.
She stated, “I think we should try to get as many people off of government benefits as we can.”
Another blind advocate in Ohio, Shelbi Hindel, 61, who opposes the disability subminimum wage, admits that many of the individuals she collaborates with on the subject are more liberal or progressive, but she does not see that as a barrier or a contradiction to her convictions.
According to Hindel, “I feel like my religious beliefs inform my worldview more.”
Regarding whether they think a second Trump administration will push laws and regulations to eliminate the disabled subminimum wage, Denning and Hindel disagreed.
Trump has made some really disparaging remarks about persons with disabilities in the past. Denning stated, “I’m not sure what he’s going to do in the end.”
Hindel said that Trump simply needed to learn more about the matter.
Although I believe he has a good heart, I believe he has to be made aware of it. He won’t likely find this intuitive, in my opinion. According to Hindel, he might not even be aware that people are receiving less than the minimum wage.
The nonpartisan Association of People Supporting work First, whose executive director is Julie Christensen, promotes greater mainstream work opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Her group is one of several spearheading the fight against the subminimum wage for disabled people. In order to guarantee that disabled individuals continue to work, it also advocates for laws that would finance alternatives.
Christensen observes that few new certificates are being awarded to businesses because the number of disabled subminimum wage workers is declining. It might not be a particularly significant change to forbid the issuance of new certificates.
When it comes to [disabled subminimum wage], there isn’t a long waiting list. According to Christensen, we now have numerous more initiatives and tactics that lead to competitive, integrated employment.
The phase-out of outdated certificates will be the actual source of conflict. Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, this probably would have been a problem.
According to Christensen, “I fully expect that there will be pushback in the next administration that getting rid of the existing certificates might be outside its scope.”
Christensen is hopeful that the problem will make headway under a Republican administration.
I believe there is potential for both the rule to proceed under President Trump and for legislation to proceed under the Republican Congress. Theoretically, we should have been able to bring it over the finish line, but we couldn’t, she said, because we had all the right conditions in the last three years [a president who pledged to stop the practice and his party holding a majority in Congress]. And it, in my opinion, illustrates that it is a nonpartisan issue.
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