Why A Priority?

WHY A PRIORITY FOR BLIND VENDORS?

Since 1936 blind people have been accorded the opportunity to operate vending facilities on Federal and other property, and in 1974 the Congress created a priority—a prior right—for blind business people to operate facilities on such property. Illinois law provides some opportunities on State property, but these are limited. Some people are asking the blind managers of Illinois to justify this preferential treatment. The very fact that the question is being asked shows the blind vendor program has been at least a partial success.

More than 100 blind people in Illinois are currently benefiting from the program. But hundreds more blind Illinoisans need good-paying jobs. They need some initial training and support to become established as business people, and that is what the priority enables them to do. The Randolph-Sheppard Act, the Federal law that established the blind vendor program, was enacted at a time when the primary source of income for blind people was selling pencils on the street, or newspapers, or making brooms.

The blind vendor program has enabled many hundreds of blind Illinoisans to be taxpaying citizens, employing many other individuals with disabilities. Nationally, some 40,000 blind individuals have found independence through this program. The blind vendor program is recognized as the most effective training and employment program for people with disabilities ever created.

While unemployment among blind adults continues to be 70 percent—far higher than the general rate of unemployment during the Great Depression—the blind vendor program is a vital bulwark against dependency and state financial support. The priority for blind vendors on Federal property is the keystone for building blind independence. A priority with respect to State property will help ease unemployment among a significant population and build tax revenue for Illinois.