Economic Justice

The site from the ABLE National Resource Center is designed to be a one-stop shop for families as well as financial professionals and program administrators, organizers say, with information about laws, regulations and product offerings in each state.

Under the Achieving a Better Life Experience, or ABLE, Act, individuals with disabilities can save up to $100,000 in special accounts without losing Social Security and other government benefits. Funds in the accounts – at any level – also will not affect eligibility for Medicaid.

Known as 529 Able or 529A accounts, the special accounts are modeled somewhat on the 529 college savings account. Able accounts were made possible by the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014, also called the ABLE Act.

Advocates for the disabled say the accounts are sorely needed. Without them, it’s hard for people with disabilities and their families to save without running afoul of limits on the funds they can accumulate, and still qualify for some government benefits. For instance, to remain eligible forMedicaid health coverage or Supplemental Security Income, which assists low-income people who are disabled, a disabled person generally can’t have more than $2,000 in savings or other assets.

Funds in an Able account, however, won’t count toward that total. So a disabled person can save for the future, or use the money for a range of needs, like health care, transportation and education, without risking the loss of government help.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) describing specific actions that federal agencies must take to comply with their obligation to engage in affirmative action in employment for individuals with disabilities. The NPRM is available in the Public Inspection portion of the Federal Register, and will be officially published February 24, 2016. Members of the public have 60 days from that date, April 25, 2016, to submit comments. EEOC has also published a question-and-answer document on the NPRM and a document providing background information and a summary of the NPRM.

Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to create affirmative action plans for the employment of people with disabilities, and to submit those plans to EEOC for approval. On May 15, 2014, EEOC published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) asking for public input on how the EEOC should revise its regulations to clarify what an affirmative action plan must include in order to be approved.

The proposed rule reaffirms the federal government's commitment to being a model employer of people with disabilities.  It would require federal agencies to adopt the goal of achieving a 12% representation rate for individuals with disabilities, and a 2% representation rate for individuals with targeted/severe disabilities. Targeted disabilities are those that the government has, for several decades, placed aspecial emphasis on in hiring because they pose the greatest barriers to employment. The goals would apply at both higher and lower levels of federal employment. Hiring efforts would be further improved through focused recruitment efforts and simplified access to disability hiring programs and services. 

I tested several scenarios including the more common filing status, exemptions, income, adjustments, credits, other taxes, payments, etc.  The recommended programs covered far more situations than those listed at IRS Free File.  All are feature limited versions of commercial programs so expect to be nagged. 

State income tax returns may or may not be free depending on several factors such as your state, income, etc.  In that situation check the IRS Free File for possible alternatives. Also a taxpayer may be able to complete their state return for free using the information from the federal return.  Finally see the IRS VITA and TCE link immediately below.

The IRS Free File site also lists many options for filing Federal Income tax returns.   Beware, some of the listed services don't nag and therefore don't necessarily warn that the taxpayer no longer qualifies for a free return.

A judge has ordered Seneca Re-ad Industries Inc. to pay more than $54,000 in damages and back pay after ruling that the sheltered workshop wrongly set subminimum wages for three of its employees with disabilities.

Judge Steven D. Bell, an administrative law judge for the U.S. Department of Labor, ruled this week that the employer was not justified when it paid three of its employees below minimum wage. He also ruled that the subminimum wages were not accurately assessed.

The case involves three employees of the Seneca Re-Ad Center, a sheltered workshop in Fostoria. In a petition filed in November with the Department of Labor, the employees said their disabilities, which include visual impairment and Asperger’s syndrome, did not interfere with their work productivity and they should be paid minimum wage.

Servicemembers and Veterans may be eligible for a one-time payment of not more than $20,114.34 toward the purchase of an automobile or other conveyance if you have certain service-connected disabilities. The grant is paid directly to the seller of the automobile and the Servicemember or Veteran may only receive the automobile grant once in his/her lifetime.

Certain Servicemembers and Veterans may also be eligible for adaptive equipment. Adaptive equipment includes, but is not limited to, power steering, power brakes, power windows, power seats, and special equipment necessary to assist the eligible person into and out of the vehicle.

VA may provide financial assistance in purchasing adaptive equipment more than once. This benefit is payable to either the seller or the Veteran or Servicemember.

Important: You must have prior VA approval before purchasing an automobile or adaptive equipment.

The numbers tell the story: Only 9% to 10% of undergraduate STEM students in the United States have disabilities, compared with approximately 20% of Americans overall. Among those who obtain Ph.D.s, the number falls to just 1%. Of those who persist in STEM fields, many hide their disabilities out of concern for their careers, as several professors with disabilities shared with me after I spoke about inaccessibility at the Inclusive Astronomy conference this past June. One said she hid her disability because she expected it would affect her tenure evaluation. Another said she kept hers secret because she thought the progressive nature of her condition would make her unhireable.

Being visibly disabled, I do not have this option, and I worry about how it will affect my career. Any appearance of not being able to shoulder my graduate student duties will decrease my competitiveness when I apply for Ph.D. programs, postdoctoral fellowships, or faculty positions. If I seem to have a history of taking medical leaves because I need to prioritize my health, my value as a future faculty member or researcher may be diminished. And I fear the day when I may need a wheelchair, which would prevent me from accessing many of the necessary tools for my research.

As the Americans with Disabilities Act reaches 25 years of being a federal law, a new study calls into question how well employers are actually doing when it comes to giving disabled job candidates a fair shake.

A group of researchers from Rutgers and Syracuse Universities sent résumés and cover letters from well-qualified fictional applicants in response to more than 6,000 advertised accounting positions. One-third disclosed that the applicant had a spinal cord injury; another third disclosed the presence of Asperger's syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism; while the final third did not mention a disability at all. Those specific disabilities were chosen because they would not impact a person's ability to effectively perform the duties of an accountant, thus ruling out any productivity-based explanations for differences in employer responses.

The fictional applicants with disabilities received 26-percent fewer expressions of employer interest than those without disabilities, with little difference between the two types of disability, according to the resulting paper, The Disability Employment Puzzle: A Field Experiment on Employer Hiring Behavior, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass.

The researchers expected to find some evidence of discrimination, but didn't anticipate "the magnitude of the effect," says Mason Ameri, a Ph.D. candidate with the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., and one of the authors of the paper. Half of the resumes portrayed a novice accountant, and half portrayed an experienced one. Ameri was particularly alarmed to discover the more-experienced disabled applicants were 34-percent less likely to receive a call-back from potential employers than their non-disabled counterparts.

"We created trail blazers with outstanding, robust profiles," says Ameri. "That raises the question of how much experience is enough to supersede disability -- and I would argue there may never be enough."

Ontario will eliminate provincially funded workshops where people with intellectual disabilities do menial tasks for pennies a day, says a top official with Ontario's Ministry of Community and Social Services.

Order accomplishes key Mental Health and Wellness Commission recommendation  

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015

LANSING, Mich. – Lt. Gov. Brian Calley today signed an executive order that will lead to increased job opportunities for Michiganders with disabilities. 

Executive Order 2015-15, establishes Employment First in Michigan and helps foster an inclusive environment that will create competitive employment opportunities for working-age individuals. The order aims to improve access to workplace support and services for people with disabilities.

"Employment First encourages workplace diversity and enhances economic development while further designating Michigan as an equal opportunity state," Calley said. “Michiganders with all abilities deserve to live independent, self-determined lives. The ability to work leads to enhanced social interaction, community involvement and economic independence, and a sense of pride that all people desire.”

The order encourages businesses and organizations to create career opportunities and to foster personal and professional growth for those with a disability that may impact their life and daily activities. It also stresses the importance of information sharing across businesses and organizations that value diverse skill sets.