The recently passed Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) made changes to the appointment process for the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency that advises the president, Congress, and federal agencies on matters of disability policy. Under the new law, the majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress can each appoint one member to the NCD. Sadly, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the senate majority leader, has made a dreadful choice in exercising this appointment power. Senator Reid has appointed Robert “Bob” Brown, who is from Senator Reid’s home state of Nevada, to the NCD. Mr. Brown’s views on disability policy conflict with the mission and the stated position of the NCD and the progressive policies embodied in laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act. To be specific, Mr. Brown supports the continued use of Special Wage Certificates issued by the Department of Labor under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which allow certificate holders to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage, in some cases pennies per hour. Indeed, Opportunity Village, a subminimum wage employer with which Mr. Brown is affiliated, appears to be paying some workers with disabilities nothing at all. The NCD has rightly called for the responsible phase-out of Section 14(c), and has issued a comprehensive report outlining its reasons for doing so. This general position is supported by the National Federation of the Blind and seventy-five other organizations of Americans with disabilities. But in an article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, of which he is the publisher, Mr. Brown called the considered opinion of the NCD and the vast majority of Americans with disabilities “nonsense.” Mr. Brown cannot be counted on to represent NCD’s views accurately and certainly not zealously.

The National Federation of the Blind and our Nevada affiliate have outlined our objections to this appointment in a letter to Senator Reid. So far, there is no indication that he is taking our concerns seriously. We hope that he will reconsider, and that the other leaders responsible for making appointments to the NCD will take care to appoint members who will truly represent the agency and the expressed will of Americans with disabilities.