Voter Registration Information on State Election Divisions

In April 2008, NISH and the National Council of Work Centers (NCWC) produced a voter registration and participation guide. Entitled It's Not Too Late for 2008, it provides information about the election process including important contact information for state election divisions. The link below provides election division contact information for each state.

Contact Information for State Election Divisions

Department of Defense Releases Memo Regarding AbilityOne Program

Shay Assad, Director of Defense Procurement, Acquisition Policy and Strategic Sourcing for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), issued a memorandum entitled "Increasing Contracting Opportunities with the AbilityOne Program" on August 27th.  In the memorandum, Director Assad urged DoD contracting officials to keep the AbilityOne Program in mind when making procurement decisions.  Click the link below to read the full memorandum.

DoD Memorandum

AbilityOne Network's National Demo/Testing Center Launched: Supporting Best in Class Digital Technology and Strategic Sourcing Solutions

As a part of a national rollout, the AbilityOne Network opened its flagship demo/testing/production/training center in Springfield, Virginia in June 2008. The new national center will provide opportunities for briefings, training, hands-on practice as well as meetings, Webinars and video conferencing with partners and customers around the country. The center will also serve as a testing ground for new applications, including Section 508 universal access and a variety of new mail and records management systems. Network contractors around the country, including Maryland, Kansas, California, Indiana and New York, are planning regional demo/testing centers and live production in local facilities.

Full Story Here

WFED’s FEDTalk Hosts Take a Look at the AbilityOne Program

Diana Veilleux and Lisa Berstein interviewed Tina Ballard, executive director for the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, Bob Chamberlin, President and CEO for NISH, Kevin Lynch, Interim President and CEO for National Industries for the Blind and Frederick Williams, an AbilityOne employee and a veteran with severe disabilities. They discussed the products and services available through the program and the customers served as well as highlighted success stories. The broadcast was aired live June 20, 2008 on WFED 1050 AM in the Washington, DC market. To hear the show in its entirety, click the link below.

WFED Interview

Tweak Federal Bill to Protect Workers with Disabilities

Evelyne Villines Writes an Op-Ed for the Des Moines Register

24 April 2008

The U.S. Congress wants to help small businesses, an admirable goal. Legislation passed last year by the House of Representatives, which would encourage federal agencies to contract with small businesses, is surely well-intentioned. But when you look at the measure more closely, the costs would outweigh the benefits.

First some history: Authorized by Congress in 1938, AbilityOne (formerly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day program) provides employment to more than 40,000 people who are blind or have severe disabilities. Operating through a network of more than 600 participating nonprofit organizations across the country, employees with severe disabilities provide quality goods and services to the federal government at a fair market price. It is, by far, the largest source of employment for Americans with severe disabilities, who endure the abysmally low employment rate of 38 percent.

Recent studies in targeted business lines show that there is a positive net impact of $46.75 million to federal and state governments in the reduction of entitlements and in the increases in payments employees make through income and payroll taxes. Further, these jobs are a cost-effective way to help people with severe disabilities to achieve greater independence.

So what does this have to do with small business legislation? Last year, the House of Representatives decided to address a long-standing frustration. Federal agencies had not been meeting their goals for contracting with small businesses. In an effort to get those agencies in compliance, the House passed HR 1873, which increased the goals it imposed on federal agencies, requiring that more contracts be awarded to small businesses, as well as ones that are women-owned, disadvantaged and "green."

Since federal agencies are struggling to meet the existing goals, the new goals are unrealistic. The Small Business Administration opposes the increase. And to meet these new goals, AbilityOne would surely get squeezed out. AbilityOne nonprofit agencies - such as Goodwill Industries in Des Moines and Iowa City and Hope Haven in Rock Valley - stand to lose their contracts. Tens of thousands of Americans with severe disabilities could lose their jobs, with little hope of finding alternative employment.

This year, the U.S. Senate is expected to pass its own small-business legislation. Obviously, members of the House of Representatives did not set out to harm Americans with severe disabilities. But if this goal is increased or if enforcement of the current goal is enhanced - without specific language to protect people with disabilities who are currently employed through the AbilityOne Program - that is exactly what will happen.

The Senate needs to make sure that it protects AbilityOne in its version of legislation. And it's not hard to do.  Under current regulations, AbilityOne nonprofits are not considered small businesses for the purposes of meeting the federal small-business program goals. But the Senate could easily include language in the bill that would allow purchasing agents to apply AbilityOne contracts toward their small-business goals.

It's a win-win for everyone. It would help federal agencies comply with current and future small-business goals. And it makes sense in that the vast majority of AbilityOne nonprofits qualify as small-business enterprises - entrepreneurial in nature, with a small number of employees, and vital to the prosperity of their communities.

Serious problems in the government usually require more complicated solutions. This one seems pretty simple. For the tens of thousands of AbilityOne employees and their families, let's hope our leaders in Congress take the time to do this right. Everybody deserves the opportunity of employment.

Evelyne Villines of Des Moines is a national spokeswoman for people with disabilities. She served as executive secretary of the Iowa Governor's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped from 1965 to 1975 and was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, serving until 2004.