II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1570 

To promote employment of individuals with severe disabilities through Federal 

Government contracting and procurement processes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2005 

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote employment of individuals with severe disabilities 

through Federal Government contracting and procurement processes, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Employer Work Incen5 tive Act for Individuals with Severe Disabilities’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to promote employment 

8 opportunities for individuals with severe disabilities, by re9 quiring Federal agencies to offer incentives to Government 
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1 contractors and subcontractors that employ substantial 

2 numbers of individuals with severe disabilities. 

3 SEC. 3. JOBS INITIATIVE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE 

4 DISABILITIES. 

5 (a) PREFERENCE FOR CONTRACTORS EMPLOYING

6 INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES.—The Office 

7 of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403 et seq.) 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 42. PREFERENCE FOR CONTRACTORS EMPLOYING IN10 DIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES. 

11 ‘‘(a) PREFERENCE.—In entering into a contract, the 

12 head of an executive agency shall give a preference in the 

13 source selection process to each offeror that submits with 

14 its offer for the contract a written pledge that the con15 tractor is an eligible business for purposes of this section. 

16 ‘‘(b) UNIFORM PLEDGE.—The Federal Acquisition 

17 Regulation shall set forth the pledge that is to be used 

18 in the administration of this section. 

19 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SECRETARY OF

20 LABOR.—(1) The Secretary of Labor shall maintain on 

21 the Internet web site of the Department of Labor a list 

22 of contractors that have submitted the pledge as described 

23 in subsection (a). 
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1 ‘‘(2) The head of each executive agency receiving a 

2 pledge as described in subsection (a) shall transmit a copy 

3 of the pledge to the Secretary of Labor. 

4 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1)(A) The term ‘eligible business’ means a 

6 nonprofit or for-profit business entity that— 

7 ‘‘(i) except as provided in subparagraph 

8 (B), demonstrates that it has established an in9 tegrated employment setting, as defined by the 

10 Secretary of Labor; 

11 ‘‘(ii) employs individuals with severe dis12 abilities in not less than 25 percent of the full13 time equivalent positions of the business, on av14 erage; 

15 ‘‘(iii)(I) pays wages to each of the individ16 uals with severe disabilities at not less than the 

17 applicable rate described in section 6(a)(1) of 

18 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

19 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)), regardless of whether the in20 dividuals are engaged in supported employment, 

21 or training, under a contract with an executive 

22 agency or a program that receives Federal 

23 funds; and 

24 ‘‘(II) does not employ any individual with 

25 a severe disability pursuant to a special certifi-
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1 cate issued under section 14(c) of the Fair 

2 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

3 214(c)); and 

4 ‘‘(iv) makes contributions for at least 50 

5 percent of the total cost of the annual pre6 miums for health insurance coverage for its em7 ployees. 

8 ‘‘(B) In the case of an entity that has a con9 tract with an executive agency in effect on the date 

10 of enactment of the Employer Work Incentive Act 

11 for Individuals with Severe Disabilities, subpara12 graph (A)(i) shall not apply until 3 years after that 

13 date of enactment. 

14 ‘‘(2)(A) The term ‘individual with a severe dis15 ability’ means an individual who is a disabled bene16 ficiary (as defined in section 1148(k)(2) of the So17 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–19(k)(2)) or an 

18 individual who would be considered to be such a dis19 abled beneficiary but for having income or assets in 

20 excess of the income or asset eligibility limits estab21 lished under title II or XVI of the Social Security 

22 Act, respectively (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq., 1381 et 

23 seq.). 
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1 ‘‘(B) The term ‘individuals with severe disabil2 ities’ means more than 1 individual with a severe 

3 disability.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 42. Preference for contractors employing individuals with severe disabilities.’’. 

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