Dec 12, 2024
Times Observer file photos U.S. Senator Bob Casey is pictured with employees at White Cane Coffee during a stop in March following Erin Willman, White Cane Coffee founder and CEO.
Erin Willman’s bid for the state House of Representatives came up short on Nov. 5 – but the Warren business owner will make a return trip to the U.S. Senate today.
According to a notice from U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Casey and Republican Mike Braun, R-Ind., the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing entitled, “Empowering People with Disabilities to Live, Work, Learn, and Thrive.” During the hearing, the senators will draw attention to some of the most important issues facing people with disabilities, including home care, employment accessibility, and economic security. The hearing will be the last with Casey and Braun as chair and ranking member of the Aging Committee.
Along with Willman, witnesses will include Brent Orell, senior fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.; Lydia Brown, director of policy for the National Disability Institute, Washington, D.C.; Mayor Neil McDevitt, mayor of North Wales, Pa.; and Ai-Jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, based in Chicago, Ill.
This will be the second time Willman has testified before a Senate hearing led by Casey. On Feb. 29 Willman was part of a 75-minute hearing that examined strategies for hiring and retaining people with disabilities, with a particular focus on the transition of businesses away from a subminimum wage model and ensuring fair pay for workers with disabilities.
During the hearing, Casey touted his Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA), a bipartisan bill to phase out the subminimum wage for people with disabilities. Willman’s testimony prompted Casey to visit Willman’s White Cane Coffee shop to discuss the TCIEA legislation.
“Erin’s witness is a spectacular demonstration of what an employer can do to provide a fair wage,” Casey said. “For folks with disabilities that can work in a business and have an opportunity to have a successful business, her example is the best in the country.”
Casey said in February that he has “more rebuttals” for his Senate colleagues by seeing how equipment has been adapted to employees at White Cane.
“A lot of employers could do this,” he stressed. “Some employers… have never had the opportunity, or taken the opportunity, to see beyond the horizon of what can happen. Erin’s provided us the opportunity to see beyond the horizon (and) see what’s possible.”
Today’s hearing will be the final Special Committee on Aging hearing Casey will chair before his term ends on Dec. 31 and Dave McCormick is sworn in as the state’s newest U.S. Senator.
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