Day 1 Inclusion of People with Disabilities and Advocates in Presidential Executive Orders

Disability Matters with Joyce Bender 

Tuesday, January 25, 2021 

#AdvocacyMatters Segment 

Day 1 Inclusion of People with Disabilities and Advocates in Presidential Executive Orders

Last week, President Joe Biden took quick action to advance the equality and inclusion of people with disabilities, eliminate racism, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the Federal Government. In a series of Presidential Executive Orders on day one of his Presidency, he directed agencies to combat discrimination within 100 and 200 days in two separate Orders.

Executive Order 13988, Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.  The focus of the Executive Order was to lay out the principle that gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination are covered by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and to enhance efforts within the federal government to prohibit such discrimination.  Included in that Order was a directive for each federal agency to develop a plan to counter discrimination in policies, programs, and regulations on the basis of gender identity, sexual orientation, and overlapping forms of discrimination that specifically included race and disability discrimination.  Federal agencies have 100 days to implement the Executive Order.

Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.  The focus of the Executive Order was to enhance equity work within the Federal Government for “people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and equity.” The President called for the Domestic Policy Council to coordinate these policy objectives and to remove system barriers.  The Office of Management and Budget must assess and help federal agencies overcome any barriers that impact equality participation on the basis of protected classes, including disability.  The Order also directs agencies to increase coordination and community with civil rights and community-based organizations and review and remove all barriers to equality in the Federal Government, including barriers that block equity for persons with disabilities.

The President also included a proposal to end the subminimum wage for people with disabilities and tipped workers in his proposed $1.9 trillion-dollar COVID economic relief package.

 

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To view these Executive Orders, visit our website at disabilityrightspa.org

 

Executive Order 13988, January 20, 2021 

Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation 

Executive Order 13985, January 20, 2021 

Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government