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Message to Congress on Military Dining
Services REQUEST: PLEASE REJECT ANY AMENDMENT TO DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION TO EXPAND THE RANDOLPH-SHEPPARD PROGRAM FACT: The latest U.S. Census revealed that there are 24 million working age individuals with severe disabilities in the United States and that only 30% of them have jobs. FACT: The JWOD Program and the Randolph-Sheppard (R-S) Program each operate about 1/3 of the total dollar value of the military dining services (with the rest operated either by commercial business or in-house). FACT: NISH publishes statistics annually on the numbers of people with severe disabilities it employs—over 41,000 in 2004—and its wages, averaging $9.15 per hour in 2004. More than 3,000 of these people with severe disabilities work in direct labor and management positions on military dining service contracts. FACT: The R-S Program employs no more than 40 blind entrepreneurs and cannot accurately report how many people with severe disabilities they employ. Despite repeated requests no employment numbers have ever been provided. There are currently more than 3,000 people with disabilities working through the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Program in management and direct labor military dining service jobs. According to an independent study in conducted in 2002, people with severe disabilities earned an average wage of $8.31 an hour, which has risen steadily each year since. This 2002 study found that by employing 2,809 workers with severe disabilities, JWOD food service contracts had a positive net impact on government balance sheets of $8.6 million. This came from an estimated $3.7 million reduction in entitlements paid to these individuals, and an increase in their payments to the government through taxes of an additional $4.9 million. This is a taxpayer savings of $3,053 per worker. NISH understands that the Department of Education (DoEd) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have agreed to negotiate a settlement on the dispute between the JWOD Program and the R-S Program on the applicability of these programs to military dining services. NISH urges you to encourage these departments to negotiate new rules that meet the goals of 1) protecting current jobs in military dining services held through the JWOD Program; 2) protecting current jobs in military dining services held through the R-S Program; and, 3) for new opportunities, allowing military dining service contracting officers to choose the appropriate program according to which program best supports their mission. The problem lies in the recent past, when the key problem was that the Department of Defense had deferred to the views of the DoEd and accorded the priority to a blind vendor and his or her “consultant.” This “consultant” can be a commercial company that has no standing under the R-S Program, need not be disadvantaged, and has no obligation to hire any person with disabilities. Recent court decisions that are purported to support the expansion of the R-S Program into the procurement arena was in fact just the courts recognizing that there was no disagreement between the of Education and the Department of Defense on this dispute. This has changed now that the DoD has reviewed its position and is seeking policy changes. This is not a conflict between one group representing people with severe disabilities and another representing people who are blind. This is an infinitesimally small group of blind food service vendors, working in cooperation with very large for-profit contractors, who are abusing the R-S Program to enrich themselves at the expense of people with severe disabilities working in well-paying, integrated, supported employment jobs. While NISH supports all people with disabilities working, there should never be a situation where many jobs are traded for one job, no matter how good the job is. NISH devoted more than two years trying to negotiate a settlement of this dispute between the competing between the JWOD Program and the R-S Program on the applicability of these programs to military dining services. Unfortunately, every time that the two groups grew close to a compromise one or more of the four groups representing blind vendors demanded a last-second change that tipped the balance of the agreement to favor the R-S Program. It is essential to protect the employment opportunities of people with severe disabilities. Given that the latest U.S. Census revealed that there are 24 million working age individuals with severe disabilities in the United States and that only 30% of them have jobs, every job counts. Thank you for your support of people with severe disabilities and their families. BACKGGROUND The 1974 R-S amendments changed the term “vending stand” to “vending facility” and included “cafeterias” within the definition of vending facility. However, the Act does not define the term “vending facility” to include military mess halls operated through the procurement process. When Congress considered the term “vending facility” in amending the R-S Act, it clearly had in mind the sale or “vending” of food and other items to the public or to government employees, not the procurement of meals for armed services personnel. This is apparent from the many references in the legislative history to “vending concessions” and “vending stands.” In 1998, nearly a decade and a half following the 1974 amendments to the R-S Program, the DoEd which administers the Act, has reversed established policy by asserting that the Act’s blind vendor priority applies to contracts for operation of military troop dining facilities and has maintained that dining facilities are cafeterias. NISH’s position is that the R-S Program blind vendor priority does not follow the original intent of the legislative act. The R-S Program language makes it clear that the act applies only to self-sustaining vending concessions that sell food to individuals. The R-S Program offers management “opportunities” only to blind people, excluding all other people with disabilities who could benefits from these opportunities. These “opportunities” include the privilege to operate a vending business in many federal buildings and to operate cafeterias—not military dining services—in federal buildings. This privilege is all too often abused by large businesses that are using the State Licensing Agencies to get around the Competition in Contracting Act, Small Business Act and JWOD Act. Few blind people are getting an "education" or an "entrepreneurial" opportunity through this program because they are managing a subcontract, not operating a business. There are no data, no reports, and no facts that show that the R-S Program is meeting its goals of expanding business opportunities for blind people. DoEd can't produce any data. DoEd does not even know where the R-S contracts are, or how much they are worth, or how many people who are blind or who have severe disabilities are working on them. In contract, NISH publishes statistics annually on the numbers of people with severe disabilities it employs—over 41,000 in 2004—and its wages—averaging $9.15 per hour in 2004. It is important to note that the Randolph-Sheppard Act allows blind managers to operate almost any type of money making facility on Federal property. There are Randolph-Sheppard facilities on U.S. Government property, as well as state property, and at private companies. Randolph-Sheppard facilities can be located at airports as newsstands, cafeterias, or snack bars. Randolph-Sheppard managers operate vending routes as well as highway rest areas. The Randolph-Sheppard Act does not state that blind managers will only operate food service facilities People with both severe and non-severe disabilities perform the vital support function of feeding our uniformed men and women at military bases nationwide. This is done through a partnership between DoD and the JWOD Program that has been forged over many years. The JWOD Program offers Air Force Hennessey and Navy Five Star Ney award-winning food services along with the contracting flexibility needed by the various branches of the armed services to shape the exact blend of uniformed personnel and civilian labor support they need to meet their unique role in defending freedom around the world. The loss of a job for people with severe disabilities means more than unemployment. It means the need for a long term government subsidy, usually SSI, because there are so very few likely job prospects for those affected. It means that current taxpayers will become dependent upon government supports. This results in a negative overall impact on federal tax dollars rather than a savings of tax dollars. Contact information: Tony Young,
Senior Public Policy Strategist, NISH |
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