TOPEKA — Two Kansas disability advocacy organizations condemned Thursday an assertion by Rep. Shawn Tarwater that people with disabilities would “rot at home” because they “really can’t do anything” in terms of securing employment outside of sheltered workshops allowed to pay workers less than minimum wage.
The controversy surfaced on Valentine’s Day when the Republican chairman of the House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee expressed support for a bill making sheltered workshops eligible for a state tax credit program. The sheltered workshops in Kansas, under the House bill, would be able to dangle the tax credit in front of potential businesses partners.
Tarwater, of Stilwell, was unhappy because Rep. Laura Williams, R-Lenexa, offered an amendment to the bill making sheltered workshops ineligible for the tax subsidy. He said the bipartisan amendment violated his warning against dragging sheltered workshops “through the mud” at the Capitol.
“These shelters do perform a good function for these disabled individuals,” Tarwater said. “They are people who really can’t do anything. And, if you do away with programs like that, they will rot at home. There is no place for them to go.”
Tarwater said sheltered workshops were places where people with disabilities could be “taken care of. They’re fed. They have a place to go and be functional, and they’re happy.”
He urged the House...
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