Attorney General Bonta Opposes Trump Administration Effort to Dismantle Fair Employment Opportunities for Blind Workers

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a multistate coalition in filing an amicus brief in support of a challenge to the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to exempt the U.S. Army from the Randolph-Sheppard Act (RSA), which provides contracting priority for the management of vending facilities to individuals who are blind or who have vision impairment. The RSA program is self-funded and sustained by a portion of the revenue generated from operating vending facilities, including proceeds from contracts for large-scale Army dining facilities. In today’s brief, the coalition argues that the administrative record is insufficient to support this decision and that eliminating RSA priority for all Army dining facilities deprives states of a contracting priority that promotes financial independence for blind residents, diminishes program-generated revenue, and constrains the states’ ability to carry out their program responsibilities. The decision also deprives states’ blind residents of meaningful employment opportunities and weakens the carefully calibrated federal-state partnership that Congress established.

“The Trump Administration is dismantling fair employment opportunities for blind workers and undoing decades of progress toward economic inclusion,” said Attorney General Bonta. “For nearly a century, the Randolph-Sheppard Act has created stable, income-generating careers for blind professionals who have successfully contributed to California's workforce. California remains committed to maintaining that opportunity and empowering individuals with disabilities to achieve independence and economic mobility. True equity means prioritizing their success, challenging stigmatization, and ensuring the opportunity for meaningful work.”

For 90 years, the RSA has directed federal agencies to afford priority to blind individuals to manage vending facilities, such as automatic vending machines, cafeterias, snack bars, cart service, and counters, on federal property. In reliance on this framework, state licensing agencies (SLAs) — which in California is the Department of Rehabilitation’s Business Enterprise Program (BEP) — recruit, train, license, and support individuals who are blind or have vision impairment to manage vending facilities using set-aside funds from RSA contracts. These funds provide for maintenance of facilities, new equipment, and health care/retirement benefits for the vendors. Army dining facilities are the most lucrative of the vending facility contracts, and their contracts contribute 11% of the total set-aside that the BEP relies upon to sustain its RSA program. 

In the amicus brief, the coalition argues that exempting the U.S. Army from the RSA is unlawful and unfair because:

• The administrative record in support of this decision is inadequate and inconsistent with the states’ extensive on-the-ground experience administering the program which, across jurisdictions and military installations, has consistently demonstrated that RSA dining facilities operate efficiently, meet contractual requirements, and deliver high-quality service within parameters set by federal agencies and military branches.
• Dining facilities operated under the RSA function at reasonable and competitive costs because labor costs are governed by federal labor standards, not by the discretion of vendors, and SLA ensure vendors operate efficiently and control costs.
• RSA vendors consistently deliver high-quality dining services across federal and military installations, including U.S. Army properties, and have repeatedly received awards and commendations for excellence in food service, management, and customer satisfaction.
• Critical program-sustaining revenue on which the states rely is jeopardized by destabilizing the program funding, reducing immediate revenue, and undermining the contracting advantage that Congress established for SLAs' benefits. 
• Blind residents’ access to employment opportunities are harmed, reducing their independence, social and economic mobility. 

Attorney General Bonta co-led filing today's brief with Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones. They are joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and the District of Columbia.