Senate Bill 1356: The Workforce Investment Act

A large, complex bill has been introduce in the National Senate to partially remake workforce investment and reauthorize the rehabilitation act for the first time in 15 years. It is about 900 pages long and consists mostly of text strikes and replacements making it all but impossible to read. Yet, it is proposing significant changes to the systems of supports that people with disabilities use to build and maintain real employment in the community.

In particular, the Bill proposes to move the Independent Living system out of Rehabilitation and into an Independent Living Administration that is also authorized in the Bill. The Bill also creates changes in sub-minimum wage legislation that would make it harder to use.

The National Council on Independent Living has analysis and advopcacy talking points out at http://www.ncil.org/rehabact/ and is as good an analysis as I have been able to find. I would take the time to review the talking points, and there are also issue specific discussions at the same site.