To a US Senator: phase out the disability subminimum wage (TCIE Act)

Personalize. If you, a family member, or someone you know has worked under 14(c) — or has transitioned out of workshop employment to competitive employment — name that experience. The substantive case for phase-out is strong; the political bandwidth has been the constraint.

Dear Senator [Last Name],

I’m writing as a constituent in [city/town] to ask you to support the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act and the federal phase-out of section 14(c) subminimum-wage authority for disabled workers.

Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, enacted in 1938, still authorizes the Secretary of Labor to issue special certificates allowing payment of disabled workers below the federal minimum wage. Workers employed under 14(c) certificates earn, on average, well below the federal minimum wage; some earn pennies per hour. The framework concentrates and retains workers in segregated workshop settings rather than serving as a pathway to competitive integrated employment.

The empirical record on phase-out is positive. State-level phase-outs in Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland, Vermont, and others have demonstrated that affected workers transition successfully to competitive integrated employment when supported-employment infrastructure is funded. Outcomes on wages, employment-setting integration, and worker wellbeing are consistently better post-phase-out.

The TCIE Act would phase out 14(c) certificates federally over a defined transition period:

1. Five-to-seven-year phase-out timeline for new certificates and existing renewals.
2. Federal funding for transition support — for workshops converting their operations or closing, and for individual workers transitioning to competitive employment.
3. Expanded supported-employment services — job coaches, on-site supports, transition services, ongoing employment supports.
4. Conversion grants for workshops moving to integrated-employment business models.
5. Worker-protection provisions during the transition: no abrupt job losses, continuity of supports, pathway to competitive employment for affected workers.

The bill has had bipartisan support in multiple sessions. Republican and Democratic cosponsors have advanced it; disability-rights organizations and employer-advocacy groups have engaged in negotiation; the substantive policy is in a tight negotiated band. The legislative bandwidth competing with other priorities has been the constraint.

[Personalize: name a specific concern. Examples: “My family member has worked under 14(c) and the framework has limited their options”; “I work in [supported employment / disability services] and have seen the transition pattern firsthand”; “I’m a constituent who follows disability policy and supports the federal phase-out”; “Our state has begun phasing out subminimum wage and the outcomes have been positive”.]

I’d appreciate knowing your position on the TCIE Act and what legislative vehicles you see as plausible paths for advancing federal phase-out.

Thank you for your service.

Sincerely,

[Your name] [Your address]