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July 25, 2007

On the eve of the 17th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Hillary Clinton wanted to celebrate the significant progress that has been made since this landmark law was enacted. The nation has dramatically improved the accessibility of the built environment and the telecommunications infrastructure. But there is still have a long way to go. That is why today Hillary Clinton is unveiling a new set of proposals to empower people with disabilities for the jobs, work and careers they aspire to.

The United States will only reach its economic potential if it ensures that people with disabilities have the full opportunity to reach their potential. Americans with disabilities have half the employment rate and double the poverty rate of individuals who do not have disabilities. Even those people with disabilities who graduated college work at only two-thirds the rate of college graduates without disabilities. Hillary Clinton believes we must shift our orientation towards a new approach that helps those with disabilities thrive and reach their potential in the workplace, community and nation.

This agenda builds on Hillary Clinton’s record on issues important to people with disabilities. From her support for programs that promote access to long-term support services to providing universal health care, Hillary Clinton has been a longtime champion of policies and programs that help people with disabilities live full and rewarding lives.

Hillary Clinton’s work opportunity agenda for persons with disabilities is the start of an ongoing dialogue with the disability community. This dialogue will continue on campaign trail and when she’s in the White House. She wants to reach a point so that on future anniversaries of the ADA instead of lamenting the lack of progress on employment and economic opportunity, we can celebrate together the vast strides we’ve made together. The ADA’s promise of full and meaningful participation is not going to be realized as long as we have a bias towards institutionalizing people. That is why Hillary is a proud co-sponsor of the Community Choice Act and why today - in honor of the 17th anniversary of the ADA - she is proposing an economic opportunity agenda for all persons with disabilities. As President, Hillary Clinton will:

1. Promote innovative employment strategies for people with disabilities
   Too many people with disabilities are being held back from obtaining good, high-paying jobs in our economy because employers are unwilling or unaccustomed to work with them. In addition, while states and cities throughout the United States have pioneered programs that help individuals with disabilities connect to high-paying jobs, these programs remain localized and poorly funded. As President, Hillary will help individuals acquire work-enabling technology and work with employers to ensure they recognize the economic potential of providing more accommodating work environments. She will dedicate $100 million towards innovative initiatives that increase the proportion of people with disabilities in the workforce by:
   
   
   • Doubling Funding for Assistive Technology Loan Programs. Assistive technologies should be affordable to all people with disabilities who need them. Expensive loans that weigh down people already struggling are not the answer. Hillary will double loan programs that enable people to purchase assistive technologies and support state initiatives like the Virginia Assistive Technology Loan Fund Authority, which has helped Virginians of all income levels (including SSI and SSDI recipients) to access low-interest loans to purchase equipment like wheelchairs, Braille equipment, hearing aids, low vision aids, and communication systems. To ensure that financing such technology is never an undue burden on the work aspirations of people with disabilities, Hillary Clinton will require an income-contingent option that never requires more than a modest percentage of one’s income for repayment.
     
     
   • Providing More Technical Assistance for Employers. Many employers are hesitant to hire people with disabilities because they are unsure about the accommodations necessary to enable successful work. President Bush has not kept his promises to fund programs that remove employment barriers that keep people with disabilities from work. He has cut funding for the Office of Disability Employment Policy by 41%, and his current budget proposes to cut the Office by an additional 34%. As President, Hillary Clinton will restore funding to the Office of Disability Employment Policy, with an emphasis on giving employers the tools to effectively employ people with disabilities. She will establish a new technical assistance resource center to provide real-time support for employers and help them link with local resources to implement workplace accommodations.
     
     
   • Expanding Innovative State and Local Job Connection Strategies Hillary Clinton will bolster employment for people with disabilities by providing federal challenge grants to expand and replicate innovative state and local strategies such as Maryland’s Reach Independence Through Self-Employment (RISE) program that has trained over 1,000 people with disabilities on developing business plans and has supported the launch of over 30 businesses across the state of Maryland with loans of up to $15,000.
     
     
2. Re-establish the Clinton Administration executive order to hire 100,000 qualified employees and make the federal government a model of accessibility
   During the Bush administration, the federal government has failed to make jobs or information technologies fully accessible for people with disabilities. In her first month in office, Hillary Clinton will review all federal websites to ensure they are accessible. She will also re-establish Executive Order 13163 to hire 100,000 qualified employees with disabilities to federal employment over five years.
   
   
3. Enact a $1,000 refundable worker with disabilities tax credit
   Workers with disabilities face extra costs for accessible technologies, transportation, and support service workers. These additional expenses amount to a regressive tax for workers with disabilities, so the federal government must work to offset these costs. Hillary Clinton proposes a $1,000 refundable tax credit to help offset additional expenses for workers with serious disabilities and moderate incomes.
   
   
4. Reduce disincentives to work in federal benefits programs
   People with disabilities can lose their Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits when they work for even a meager income. The Clinton administration took important steps to address this problem by enacting the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act. As a result, 31 states have enacted policies to reduce the disincentives to work. That represents significant progress, but state policies are still uneven. Some states place limits on unearned income with respect to enrollment. Others require persons with incomes above specified levels to pay premiums. And still others fail to provide enrollment protections for individuals who lose employment while participating in the Medicaid Buy-In program. In addition, when an individual who is covered by the buy-in is moves to another state that has not taken up the buy-in option, they lose their coverage and incentive to stay employed. As President, Hillary will further break down the disincentives to work in our public programs by:
   
   
   • Equalizing Cost Sharing Treatment by Applying More Favorable SCHIP Cost Protections to Medicaid Buy In. States frequently charge burdensome premiums and co-pays for coverage under the Medicaid buy-in for working individuals with disabilities. The cost of tStates frequently charge burdensome premiums and co-pays for coverage under the Medicaid buy-in program for working individuals with disabilities. The cost of that coverage can be unaffordable for working individuals with disabilities. To make health care more affordable for working parents of children, the federal government has limited the premium and cost-sharing amounts under the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to 5 percent of family income. This proposal would limit premiums and cost-sharing for individuals buying into Medicaid to the same percentage of family income - creating parity between the two programs.
     
     
   • Eliminating Medicare Eligibility Time Limit. An individual with disabilities who is eligible for Medicare can continue working and retain Medicare coverage for a time-limited 8½ years. Hillary would eliminate the time-limit, allowing individuals to continue to work as long as they are able, and still retain Medicare eligibility.
     
     
   • Conducting a National Review. Hillary will also ask top government officials to work with health, retirement and disability experts to review and make recommendations on how work disincentives can be eliminated from major federal programs such as SSDI, SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid eligibility. This review will develop recommendations to eliminate inconsistencies across states and will require HHS to release a best practice report that will make explicit recommendations to reduce disincentives to work.