Senators and Governors Focus on Increasing the Employment of People with Disabilities

July 17, 2012

On Monday, July 16, 2012, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and the Senate author of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, released a report detailing the current state of employment for adults with disabilities and describing policy recommendations that would help to increase labor force participation. Following a series of bipartisan HELP Committee hearings to explore the persistently low employment rate of people with disabilities, this report outlines the next steps to achieve Chairman Harkin’s goal of raising the number of Americans with disabilities in the labor force to 6 million by 2015.

Harkin’s report came a day after Delaware Governor Jack Markell announced that expanding employment for Americans with disabilities will be the defining initiative of his new National Governors Association chairmanship. Specifically, the initiative will focus on the employment challenges that affect individuals with intellectual and other significant disabilities and the role that both state government and business can play in facilitating and advancing opportunities for these individuals to be gainfully employed in the competitive labor market.

Click here for more about the Senate HELP Committee report.

Click here to read more about the National Governors Association initiative.