New Jersey-2016-AJR110-Introduced

A Joint Resolution urging the Congress of the United States to ask the Department of Education and the Department of Labor to revise specific proposed rules concerning the implementation of the "Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act" in order to protect and maintain the rights of individuals with disabilities.

Whereas, The Congress defined "competitive integrated employment" in section 404 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act ("WIOA") to mean, in part: "work that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis (including self-employment) . . . that is at a location where the employee interacts with other persons who are not individuals with disabilities (not including supervisory personnel or individuals who are providing services to such employee) to the same extent that individuals who are not individuals with disabilities and who are in comparable positions interact with other persons"; and

Whereas, The Department of Education has proposed rules (80 FR 21059) adding unreasonable and complex restrictions on the meaning of integrated work, including an unrealistic requirement for integration to occur both within the particular work unit and across the entire work site (34 C.F.R. s.361 et al.); and

Whereas, New Jersey residents with disabilities are deserving of having the same choice of where, how, and with whom they work and spend their time as other New Jersey residents; and

Whereas, Programs and employment offered by community rehabilitation programs and community businesses such as industry specific skills training, work crews, call centers, manufacturing, employment through contracts under the New Jersey Rehabilitation Facilities Set-Aside Act, employment through AbilityOne contracts, and independent work assignments provide New Jersey residents with disabilities the opportunity to meet new people, gain new skills, and earn the respect, dignity, and other ancillary human benefits that come with earning a paycheck and making a contribution to society; and

Whereas, Many New Jersey residents with disabilities avail themselves of the opportunity to participate in these programs and related employment; and

Whereas, The parents, guardians, and caregivers of many of those participants support and attest to the benefits of those programs and the employment provided under those programs; and

Whereas, There is growing concern that these specific rules proposed by the Department of Education and any similar interpretation or rulemaking by the Department of Labor regarding the implementation of the WIOA go beyond the Congressional intent of the act, and substantively change and narrow the scope of the act, thereby reducing opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in programs and employment offered by community rehabilitation programs and community businesses; and

Whereas, Individuals with disabilities should be free to choose the settings in which they receive services or employment, including programs and employment offered by community rehabilitation programs and community businesses such as industry specific skills training, work crews, call centers, manufacturing, employment through contracts under the New Jersey Rehabilitation Facilities Set-Aside Act, employment through AbilityOne contracts, and independent work assignments; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Congress of the United States is urged to ask the Department of Education and the Department of Labor to rely on the Congress's definition of "competitive integrated employment," without change, and to revise the proposed rules concerning the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in order to protect and maintain the rights of individuals with disabilities to participate in programs and employment offered by community rehabilitation programs and community businesses such as industry specific skills training, work crews, call centers, manufacturing, employment through contracts under the New Jersey Rehabilitation Facilities Set-Aside Act, employment through AbilityOne contracts, and independent work assignments.

2. The Congress of the United States also is urged to clarify to the Department of Education and Department of Labor that jobs where people with disabilities work alone or in groups still qualify as a competitive job placement for WIOA programs and still qualify for employers with federal contracts to meet their seven percent goal for employing persons with disabilities.

3. The Congress of the United States is further urged to request that the United States Department of Education and Department of Labor delay rules for the implementation of the WIOA, in particular the rules related to competitive integrated employment and the proposed regulatory addition of "work unit" into the Congress's definition of "competitive integrated employment," as needed to provide time to evaluate the implications of a major overhaul of workforce policy on the people the law is intended to serve and permit community rehabilitation providers, state and federal contractors, and advocacy organizations time to educate New Jersey residents with disabilities and their families and caregivers on how the law will change their lives.

4. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Education, the Director of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the United States Secretary of Labor, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the United States Senate, the members of the New Jersey delegation, and the news media of New Jersey.

5. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This Joint Resolution urges Congress to ask the Departments of Labor and Education to revise their proposed rules concerning implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to better protect the right of individuals with disabilities to participate in community rehabilitation programs and related employment.

The resolution recognizes that New Jersey residents with disabilities have a vested interest in choosing the type of employment that best suits their needs. Each individual and, where applicable, that individual's family or caregiver, deserves the State's support in maintaining that choice and continuing to allow an array of services and employment options to be provided that will best suit that individual. New Jersey residents with disabilities should not be made to sacrifice their current employment or otherwise be limited in their choice of future employment, whether or not currently employed. This is an issue of choice and freedom that we respect and honor in New Jersey.