Proponent Testimony on House Bill 225 — Warren Todd Elzey, Commerce and Labor Committee

Summary

Proponent testimony on House Bill (HB) 225, the Ohio Employment First and Greater Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Act, by Warren Todd Elzey, dated May 12, 2025, to the Ohio House of Representatives Commerce and Labor Committee. The testimony urges the committee to pass HB 225. It states that the first job of the witness at the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB) paid $0.35 per hour, and that Ohio law still permits any employer to apply for exemptions to pay workers with disabilities far below the minimum wage. It calls on the Ohio Legislature to pass HB 225 to end the cycle of dependance for workers with disabilities earning sub-minimum wage.

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Warren Todd Elzey
611 Blenheim Rd.
Columbus, OH. 43214
toddelzey@gmail.com
315-879-1746

May 12, 2025

Chair Johnson, Vice Chair Lear, Ranking Member McNally, and members of the Ohio House
of Representatives Commerce and Labor Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to offer
proponent testimony on House Bill (HB) 225, the Ohio Employment First and Greater
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Act.

I am here today to urge the House Commerce and Labor Committee to pass HB 225.

I am an individual with two disabilities. I am legally blind, and I have a moderate to severe
hearing loss. My first job while still in school was as a dining room attendant at the Ohio
State School for the Blind (OSSB). At the time, OSSB was able to pay students working in
the dining room far below the prevailing minimum wage. So, for that first job I earned $0.35
per hour.

That was not a lot of money even for those days. My non-disabled peers in my hometown
were earning far more than I was life guarding at the pool, flipping burgers at McDonald’s,
mowing people’s yards, et. It took me working hours to get to a point where I earned what
they earned in a single hour. Their weekly salaries far outpaced mine, which allowed them
to pay for many recreational activities that I couldn’t afford. I remember it being
embarrassing and frustrating.

Yet, 40+ years later Ohio law still permits any employer to apply for exemptions so that they
can pay any worker with a disability far below the minimum wage. There are hundreds, if
not thousands, of workers in Ohio earning well below Ohio’s minimum wage. Sometimes
these employees are still paid below a $1 per hour. And these are adults, not teenagers.

Imagine the embarrassment and frustration as an adult of earning below the minimum
wage! This embarrassment and frustration is compounded when the worker with a
disability earning far below the minimum wage is working alongside a non-disabled worker
who is being paid the minimum wage, or more, for doing the exact same work, which
happens far too often. It is hard enough in our current economy to survive on minimum
wage. It is completely impossible to become self-sufficient when earning sub-minimum
wage. Allowing employers to continue to pay workers with disabilities below the minimum
wage will only achieve one goal – to keep these workers from achieving independence and
self-sufficiency.

The exemptions allowing employers to pay workers with disabilities sub-minimum wage
were originally created to encourage employers to employ individuals with disabilities. If
these exemptions ever had a viable purpose, that purpose has long since passed. Today we
have anti-discrimination laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, that
ensure equal access to employment for individuals with disabilities.

Yet, you will hear people testify, particularly parents of adults with severe disabilities, that
sub-minimum wages are still needed to ensure that individuals with disabilities can have a
job. These people mean well. They fear adults with severe disabilities becoming isolated
because organizations employing them for sub-minimum wage say the jobs will disappear
if sub-minimum wage goes away. Unfortunately, much like society in general, the people
who fear the loss of sub-minimum wage don’t understand or believe in the full capacity of
people with disabilities to work and become self-sufficient and independent.

Sub-minimum wage is also unfair for workers with disabilities because many of the
organizations that pay sub-minimum wage employee the workers with disabilities to work
on Federal Government contracts where the organizations earn significant revenue. And in
some cases, the organization CEOs are earning well into the six figure salary range, even
over a half million per year, while they pay workers with disabilities far below the minimum
wage.

So, I call upon the Ohio Legislature to pass HB 225 to end the cycle of dependance for
workers with disabilities earning sub-minimum wage, to encourage striving for
independence and self-sufficiency, and to treat workers with disabilities with the same
dignity enjoyed by non-disabled workers of being guaranteed earning at least the statutory
minimum wage.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions regarding this testimony.

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