Disability Employment NYS Session

Blaise Bryant talks about the NYS legislature not advancing disability employment priorities this legislative session. He also explores the barriers for advancing progress and how this can change. June 4th 2026

Transcript

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Welcome to Disability in the Public Square in Our Ability Podcast. I'm Blaze Bright. It's great to be back with you as I was managing some tech issues that were preventing me from recording these, so it's great to be back. It's Thursday, June fourth, as here we are in New York. It's the last day of the legislative session. What has happened with respect to disability employment this year? Well the very short, which I'll get into now, and the very long that I'll get into in just a minute is zero. Zero has happened with respect to disability employment because well a couple of things. Number one, the state budget was seven and a half weeks late. They just got it passed last week. And number two, of course, Angelo Santa Barbara, the Assembly's Committee Chair on Disabilities, who is a parent of a child with autism, still continues to stand in the way and not make this bill the priority it needs to be. So about 1,500 New Yorkers who are currently working in sheltered workshop or sub minimum wage workshop settings have the opportunity to work and get jobs that pay at or above minimum wage. So we're still in limbo for the umpteenth year in a row, which is just flat out criminal. This governor, Kathy Holkel, has talked a lot about disability employment. Yes, she's done some stuff which is good with respect to raising the amounts for the Medicaid buy-in program for working people with disabilities in New York, which is a stupidly well kept secret. And to help make that less of a secret, if you don't know about it, the short and sweet version of it is if someone is receiving Medicaid and their benefits can go away because of earning too much because of their job, there's a program, federal program, called the Medicaid Buy-in Program for Working People with Disabilities that allows you to earn a bit more based on the poverty line and area income and stuff. So you can still keep your Medicaid while working. Unfortunately, in our disability space, there's such fear and a stigma that if you lose your benefits, well, you can't work. And that holds so many people back. It's just unbelievable to me how we can sit here in 2026 and this still be such a reality. I also saw something, I think it was the other day, about how there are going to be 50 new benefits counselors throughout or across New York State that are going to help disabled people get jobs, and these folks are going to go through trainings. I believe this is through the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, OPWD. Maybe there's a labor component to this as well. Admittedly, I'm not overly sure because I just haven't had the time to look into it more. But the fact this is happening is certainly quite encouraging. Because the more work we can do to break down that barrier of fear that disabled people, generally speaking, have of being unable to work if they have benefits, the more successful we're going to be. That's one of the root causes. Now, in terms of back to sub minimum wages, there is a pilot program that's funded by the state through September of 2027, called the sub minimum wage to competitive integrated employment, SWTCIE, which we in the biz call switchy. And it's, like I said, a pilot program that I know six independent living centers are administering throughout the state. I am the communication specialist for the New York Association on Independent Living. That's my day job. And they are administering those uh pilot programs throughout the state in conjunction with Access VR, which is the vocational arm for people who are not blind. For the blind folks, you've got the New York State Commission for the Blind, which I've proudly received a bunch of services through, and they've been extremely helpful to me in my employment journey. But in any event, there are ways and there are opportunities for disabled people to be earning at or above minimum wage. So the way the switchy program works, again, Cliffnotes version, is number one, you figure out what the person actually wants to do, and then there's a discovery phase, and then it's the finding that fit phase and then making sure everything works out. So it's really important, especially as we go into next year where the funding for switchy dries up, that the legislature actually do something on disability employment. We rank forty-sixth in employment stats for disabled people. I've said that before, it's worth pointing out again. We just if we don't do better now, when are we going to? That is a theme of our advocacy that I've been coming back to and been preaching since the budget passed. Because this state budget does nothing to increase the quality of life for disabled people. Funding for the independent living centers that empower the lives of disabled people is flat at sixteen and three quarters million. The funding for the statewide access to home program that people can utilize to make their homes more livable and accessible, level funded at five million. Home care and Medicaid home and community based services, Zippo in this budget. But yeah, nursing homes, hospitals, they get all the money. I saw something this morning where, according to the Times Union, three hundred and eighty four million dollars, this is from the group it is the Commission on Lobbying and Ethical Government, Coeleg, three hundred and eighty-four million dollars was spent lobbying legislators on issues. I point this out because that means a lot of groups have that money. Us disabled folks don't. It's really that concrete. I just am extremely concerned that as long as this type of money is allowed to be thrown around, and by the way, it's the fourth straight year where that number's gone up, and guess what's going to happen next year? That number's gonna go up. Yes, it is. Because the value of the dollar just continues to go down. And that's the other piece of this too. You've got disabled people earning below minimum wages, and the value of the currency that they're being paid goes down. Continually continues to go down because of inflation. What? And here in New York we still allow this to happen. We're supposed to be a leader in providing supports and services to disabled people. If we're still a leader, that means the rest of the country's doing downright horrendous. I can't put that any other way. It's just my general feelings from what I've seen in the advocacy I've done this year. I just don't get it. When will they ever learn? To quote that sixties folk song. When will they ever learn? And as there are going to be people stepping away from the legislature and more people coming in, there is going to be some sort of hope that things will change. Well, maybe they will, but in the years I've been doing this stuff, which is twelve years now, I haven't seen much progress regardless of who's in charge. Because the reality is we don't have the money that influences people, that influences policymakers. Yeah, stories are important. They're essential, and should be more important than money. But honestly, I question whether that really is the case. What do you think? Let us know on the Our Ability social media, as John and I will be coming together soon to do shows. We're figuring that stuff out. It's a bit logistical, or logistical than it might seem, but I promise it's worth the wait as we come together as one united force here soon. And until then, I'm Blaze Bryant. I'll be back with you tomorrow with another episode of Disability in the Public Square, an Our Ability podcast. Have a great day.