Some disability advocates and people with disabilities themselves feel that disabled people have been abandoned to fend for themselves, which is evident in places like Utah, where important bills that would improve the quality of life for disabled people have been rejected one after another.
In January, the Utah Legislature rejected Assembly Bill 205, which would have required Utah employers to raise wages for disabled workers. The bill would have phased out over two years employers’ right to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage (currently $7.25 in Utah). Currently, nine Utah employers are using this exemption to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage. State Assemblyman Brett Garner, who introduced the bill, said: Approximately 544 employees There are a few disabled people who are paid less than the minimum wage, but disability advocates in the state say even one is one too many. Nate Cripps, supervising public affairs attorney for the Utah Disability Law Center, said advocates want to continue the discussion and educate lawmakers about the issue and urge them to act.
This is just the latest development in the consistent marginalization of disabled workers in America, where discrimination and poor treatment are commonplace. Across the country, companies from Amazon to Walmart have been accused of creating unsafe work environments for disabled people or excluding them from jobs altogether. And with this ongoing pandemic, the issue of discrimination against disabled people has only become more acute as more people become disabled due to the effects of long-term COVID-19.
Shelby Hintze, a disability advocate from Utah who has spinal muscular atrophy, went to the state legislature last year during the 2023 session to fight her own experiences and concerns for others. She introduced a bill to prevent people with disabilities from losing their benefits. HB 252 would ensure that people who become permanently disabled can stay on Medicaid and get the medical care they need.
“It basically raises the income limit so that Medicaid can cover things that other insurance doesn’t,” Hintz told Prism. According to the state, Hintz was removed from Medicaid because she “made too much.” Now she can barely afford to hire a personal care assistant to maintain her quality of life. Hintz said when she spoke to lawmakers about the Medicaid proposal, they were all initially on board. One lawmaker she was particularly concerned about had a friendly discussion with her and agreed that this is what the state needed.
When it came time to vote, the proposal was defeated. The bill was introduced again in the 2024 session, and, to Hintze’s surprise and relief, it was defeated again.
“Disability rights is definitely an issue that takes a back seat here,” Hintze said. She said she finds that puzzling, given the number of people with disabilities in Utah. One in four Utah adults (26.4%, or about 647,000 people) has a disability, according to a December 2023 report from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
Hintze said he felt hopeful to see something that would challenge Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an exception that allows companies to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage. Many states have passed their own laws to change the provision, but others are far behind. Utah is one of the remaining states that still has the provision.
Other states that once had this exemption have since corrected the problem. States including Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine and New Hampshire now prohibit wages below the minimum wage. In right-to-work states like Utah, it is particularly concerning to advocates that paying low wages to people with disabilities has remained legal for so long, as it undermines the power and presence of unions that could help close the disability wage gap.
People with disabilities already face significant challenges securing employment and housing due to discrimination. Research shows that adults with disabilities are more likely to experience food insecurity, harm or abuse in relationships, and health limitations that significantly reduce their quality of life. This is exacerbated for the most marginalized, with higher rates of disability in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, according to a 2023 study published in Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences. When the quality of life of people with disabilities is ignored and treated as separate by law, it sets the stage for the devaluation of all people.
“Most of us will experience a disability at some point in our lives,” Nat Slater, disability justice activist and director of equitable community engagement at Promise Partnership Utah, told Prism. “Disability can happen to anyone, at any time. In the disability world, we sometimes use the acronym ‘TAB’ (Temporarily Able-Bodied) to refer to non-disabled people, emphasizing this fact.”
In Utah, the dominant presence of the LDS Church shapes the culture of how people talk about and treat people with disabilities.
“At best, this promotes a patronizing ‘charity model’ approach, and at worst, it discriminates against and dehumanizes people with disabilities,” Slater said. The impact of this charitable ethos has implications for current fights for equal pay, where the exploitation of disabled workers can be repackaged as a ‘service’ to the same individuals who are being exploited.
Hintze echoed that sentiment, saying, “We have a very romanticized idea of communities helping their own people and not relying on government assistance, as the saying goes.” But that attitude systematically leaves people with disabilities behind. “The idea that we’re going to take care of our own people, that communities are going to take care of each other, and we don’t need the government to tell us to do that… that’s not what’s happening,” she added.
With Utah’s legislative session only 45 days long, new proposals to pay below minimum wage won’t be on the table for at least another year, and it could take even longer to turn the tide. Other disability worker bills the Disability Law Center and disability advocacy groups are watching this session that could positively impact people with disabilities include HB 139 (Mental Health Treatment Research), which aims to study people with mental illnesses and provide them with the help they need, and HB 149 (Earned Income Tax Credit Amendment), which could give working Utahns with disabilities a little more income. Looking at the trends of disability bills that have passed so far, advocacy groups aren’t sure what will pass this session.
“Our legislature doesn’t particularly like to spend money, and anything that requires a lot of money makes it especially difficult,” Cripps said.
But putting disability rights on the back burner will continue to have costs, and as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, these labor rights will become more and more personal for many.
“What’s happening here in Utah directly impacts all 14(c) workers across the country, as well as non-14(c) disabled workers who face workplace discrimination,” Slater said. “By upholding discriminatory laws like this, lawmakers are making it very clear that people with disabilities are not valued.”