SWEENEY’S LEGACY: NEW LAWS SET TO AID PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
Lame-duck legislation caps Sweeney’s Senate career. ‘My legacy,’ he says
By Katie Crist for NJ Spotlight News
January 27, 2022
The pandemic has made it especially challenging for people with disabilities to complete their education or land a job, but now the state is expanding its assistance in one of Steve Sweeney’s last acts as Senate president — and fittingly so.
Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed a series of bills intended to help individuals with developmental disabilities, measures pushed by lawmakers in the last days of the lame-duck voting sessions.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost 20% of the U.S. population is considered disabled, but only 20% of disabled people participate in the workforce.
“Employment is so important for these individuals,” said Sweeney, the former Senate president, in an interview with NJ Spotlight News after leaving office. “It is the only way to alleviate the economic inequity they face.”
Sweeney, who has an adult child with a developmental disability, shepherded the bills through the legislative session’s final days as part of a package meant to boost education and workforce training for those with disabilities.
Priority task
After a shocking loss to a political novice in the recent election, Sweeney ended his Senate career with the January voting sessions and made it a priority, he said, to get these bills passed.
“It is very easy for them to be put on the back burner,” he said. “But I have made sure their issues were at the top of the pile.”
Of the bills that have been passed, there are several that Sweeney said will make a considerable difference in the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities. One of the new laws (S-4211/A-6228) will create county college-based adult centers to help people with developmental disabilities up to 24 years old transition out of other programs. The law also requires an annual appropriation of $4.5 million to jump-start these initiatives.
Sweeney said that many of these people are not able to reach their full potential as community members with maximum independence and productivity because the education and related services they were entitled to while in school, ended abruptly once they left the system. Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), another sponsor, said the pandemic has severely stunted their ability to successfully become independent.
“The pandemic shined a light on many of the challenges they face,” O’Scanlon said. “It has opened peoples’ eyes and magnified the greater community’s awareness of this problem.”
“This virus has shown how vulnerable this community is,” Sweeney agreed.
In a joint statement, the Assembly sponsors of this bill, Assembly members Daniel J. Benson (D-Mercer, Middlesex), Pedro Mejia (D-Bergen), Shanique Speight (D-Essex) and Andrew Zwicker (D-Somerset) agreed that the pandemic has created a sense of urgency for legislation that supports this community.
“Disruptions to the school year have only added to the stress that many students with developmental disabilities feel as they age out of the public school system and are forced to adjust to a new normal,” they said. “We have the opportunity to provide these individuals with much-needed support that will put them in a better position to lead independent and rewarding lives through higher education or by joining the workforce.”
Fast-track employment
Another bill (S-3418/A-5294) that’s now law will provide fast-track hiring and advance employment opportunities for those with disabilities. This program will enable employers to hire, promote, retain and advance qualified individuals whose disabilities prevent them from participating in the competitive hiring and promotion process.
Sweeney stated that this law will help alleviate the high unemployment rate in this community. “People with disabilities are good employees,” he said. “They just want to live and work like you and me.”
A similar bill (S-3426/A-5296) will require the Division of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action and the Civil Service Commission to develop a “State as a Model Employer of People with Disabilities” or SAME program. The purpose would be to increase awareness of employment opportunities for people with disabilities and remove barriers to the application and hiring process.
“It is well-known that workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are hardworking individuals who consistently have a positive impact on all employees within a company,” said Christina M. Renna, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey. “Employers of all sizes and industry types are more than willing to hire individuals with disabilities but have some uncertainties around the costs associated with training needs and other necessary accommodations. This legislation would help employers offset these costs, further incentivizing the business community to hire from within the IDD community of skilled workers.”
Holdovers for next sessions
Not every bill in this series received full approval. One in particular (S-3809/A-5986) was intended to provide a tax credit for corporations and businesses that employ people with developmental disabilities. It passed unanimously in the Senate but failed in the Assembly. Thus, it will need to be reconsidered in the new legislative session.
O’Scanlon stated that he is ready to pick up Sweeney’s baton and continue the fight for individuals with disabilities. “The Murphy administration owes this community, and now we can make it up to them,” he said. “I am going to push for this.”
When he signed these bills into law, Murphy said that all New Jerseyans deserve equal access to community support and opportunities. “These essential measures recognize the significant contributions that disabled individuals provide to our economy, will expand access to training and new employment opportunities and positively impact the lives of many of our residents,” he commented.
The work of fighting for people like his daughter was the greatest honor of his Senate career, Sweeney said.
“It is my legacy,” he said. “It is my life.”
Other related bills Murphy signed into law include:
S-4102/A-6230 (Sweeney, Teresa Ruiz/Benson, Mejia, Zwicker): Establishes Direct Support Professional Career Development Program and appropriates $1 million to support DSP workers and encourage them to remain in the workforce.
S-4210/A-6062 (Sweeney, Linda R. Greenstein/Louis D. Greenwald, Angela V. McKnight, Raj Mukherji): Requires EDA to establish a loan program to assist certain businesses with funding to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.
S-3426/A-5296 (Speight, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, McKnight/Sean T. Kean, Schepisi): Provides employment by the state for certain people with disabilities.
S-3441/A-5336 (Benson, Roy Freiman, Vainieri Huttle/Patrick J. Diegnan, Fred H. Madden): Requires DHS to establish payment programs for purchase of transportation services from private-sector and government transportation providers.