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New Deal-era law that lets businesses pay workers with disabilities below minimum wage on the chopping block

July 22, 2021

Democrats have sought for several years to revamp the section of the 1938 Act that applies to workers with disabilities. The bill appears to stand a good chance of passage with the party in control of the White House and Congress. "Phasing out subminimum wages for workers with disabilities is fundamentally a civil rights issue," said Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., chairwoman of a House panel with jurisdiction over the issue.