As of now, about 39,500 disabled people are paid less than minimum wage. About 88% of that group are in segregated workplaces. Segregation is when laws or rules keep different groups of people apart. Many disabled people don’t get to work with non-disabled people. Or, if they do work together, non-disabled people are the bosses for disabled people. It is not fair that some disabled people are paid less than minimum wage in segregated jobs. All disabled people deserve to be paid the same amount as nondisabled workers doing similar jobs as them. All of us also deserve to work alongside nondisabled people. We can improve the jobs for disabled people with your help!
The Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act or TCIEA (H.R.1263) is a bill. TCIEA would give states and businesses the help they need to create competitive integrated employment opportunities for disabled people. Competitive integrated employment (CIE) means a job where disabled people are paid at least minimum wage and work with nondisabled people. CIE jobs also have to follow some other rules that you can learn about here.
To learn more about TCIEA and get the answers to questions about the bill, check out this guide. Are you ready to take action for TCIEA? Keep reading to find out how you can make sure TCIEA passes this year!
We want Congress to make the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA) into a law. For TCIEA to become a law, both parts of Congress must agree on the bill. There are 2 parts of Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives (sometimes called “the House”). In the Senate, the group that is in charge of TCIEA is the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee. In the House of Representatives, the group in charge of TCEIA is the House Education and Workforce (Ed&Work) Committee. The Senate HELP Committee and the House Ed&Work Committee work together to pass bills that they both agree on. This happens during a conference committee. ASAN has already made a TCIEA action alert for the Senate HELP Committee. But this TCIEA action alert is for the House Ed&Work Committee.
Representatives need to tell the House Ed&Work Chair Virginia Foxx that they want TCIEA in the final workforce and apprenticeship package. The Chair of any congressional committee decides which bills the committee will work on. ASAN wants the House Ed&Work Chair Virginia Foxx to work on and pass TCIEA this year. A package is a group of similar bills that Congress talks about or votes on at the same time. The package that TCIEA is a part of is called the workforce and apprenticeship package. The workforce and apprenticeship package is also called:
- The workforce package.
- The apprenticeship package. (An apprenticeship is when someone gets paid to learn how to do a job).
- The WIOA package. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or WIOA is another law related to jobs and working. TCIEA is different from WIOA, but some people still call the package “the WIOA package.”
All the bills in this package have to do with working or learning to do a job. Because TCIEA is about jobs, it is in this package. TCIEA is more likely to pass as part of a package than it is on its own.
We also want more Representatives to cosponsor TCIEA. Cosponsoring means that a legislator supports a bill. Legislators are a group of people who vote to make laws. Legislators are usually elected officials. When a bill has more cosponsors, legislators are more likely to vote to pass it. We need your help to get more Representatives to support and cosponsor TCIEA! It is important to tell Ed&Work Representatives that they should join Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers in co-sponsoring TCIEA. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers is a republican from Washington who already cosponsors TCIEA.
Here’s how you can help TCIEA become a law this year:
First, see who your Representative is by entering your zip code here.
Then, see if your Representative is on the House Education & Workforce Committee. Check if they are on the member list here.
If your Representative is on the House Education & Workforce Committee, call the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative’s office. You can say “Please connect me to Representative [first and last name]’s office.”
Once you are connected to your Representative’s office, you can use our script:
My name is [your full name], and I am from [your city]. I am a constituent of Representative [your Representative’s last name]. I’m calling to ask Representative [your Representative’s last name] to tell Chairwoman Foxx that they want the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act, or TCIEA, added to the final workforce and apprenticeship package during conference committee and passed this session.
TCIEA would give states and businesses the resources they need to provide good jobs for disabled people so that we can earn more money and be more independent. When states switch from subminimum wage to fairly paid jobs in the community, more disabled people get jobs.
Disabled people want to work, and TCIEA would help us meet that goal. I ask Representative [your Representative’s last name] to ask Chairwoman Foxx to include TCIEA in the final workforce and apprenticeship package. I also ask Representative [your Representative’s last name] to join Representative McMorris Rodgers in cosponsoring TCIEA. And I ask Representative [your Representative’s last name] to ensure TCIEA’s passage this congressional session.
If your Representative is not on the House Education & Workforce Committee, we’ve still got 2 steps you can take:
- If you know a self-advocate who lives in the district of a House Ed&Work Representative, please forward this action alert to them!
- You can also call the leaders of the House Education & Workforce Committee, Chair Foxx and Ranking Member Scott. Their contact information is:
- Chair, Representative Virginia Foxx: (202) 225-2071 and
- Ranking Member, Representative Bobby Scott: (202) 225-8351
You can use this script to plan what you will say to Chair Foxx and Ranking Member Scott:
My name is [your full name], and I am from [your city]. I am a constituent of Representative [your Representative’s last name]. I’m calling to ask Representative [your Representative’s last name] to add the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act, or TCIEA, to the final workforce and apprenticeship package during the conference committee and pass it this session.
TCIEA would give states and businesses the resources they need to provide good jobs for disabled people so that we can earn more money and be more independent. When states switch from subminimum wage to fairly paid jobs in the community, more disabled people get jobs.
Disabled people want to work, and TCIEA would help us meet that goal. I would like to ask Representative [your Representative’s last name] to include TCIEA in the final workforce and apprenticeship package and ensure its passage this congressional session.
Wondering what to expect from a call to your elected officials? Check out this guide to making a call to your Members of Congress. If you can’t make a phone call, that is fine — sending an email will work too! You can find your Representatives’ email addresses on their websites.
Please call and email as soon as you can! If we all contact our elected officials, it sends the clear message that disabled people deserve to work in the community for fair pay. Together, we can make a difference!