sentiments of the people were reflected. when the majority wants anything -- one definition of democracy is the majority gets what it once when it wants it. in the house, that is often what happens. in the senate, you cannot do anything without consensus. it does become a law in both chambers agree. host: we're talking with john haskell about the leadership in the congress and senate. the next call is from michigan on the republican line. caller: i think most of us know bills that spend money have to originate in the house. they can go to the senate for changes and go back and forth. does the last ok on the bill have to be at the house and then it goes to the president? my second question is, when bills do not involve spending

money, do they have to originate in the house? in the region either place? -- can they originate either place? how do they end up on the president's desk? guest: constitution says it is revenue, not spending bills that have to start in the house. any bill other than a tax bill may start in either chamber. at the end of today, both chambers have to pass an identical bills for the bill to get to the president. normally, it does not matter where it starts. host: senate has not passed a budget in recent years. how can we make wise decisions? guest: that is one of the fundamental problems. the senate has chosen not to bring --

the house does start spending bills. they passed a law last year. the senate brought in to the floor. the senate in recent years has not seen fit to bring spending bills to the floor. that is where you get a gridlock and bills not passing on time. ultimately, they have to pass both chambers. host: with some of the former speakers from the 19th and 20th centuries recognizes congress today? guest: rules structure in the house is about the same as it was, not quite, but close to the same as it was in the early '20s and -- in the early 20th century. the senate looks like it always has been extended debate and difficulty coming to a vote. that is what it was intended to do. host: the next call is from

pennsylvania. caller: with the original separation of power between congress and the president, it seems depending on the president in power, the congress seems to agree with pretty much everything they do. there seems to be a lot of separation between congress's duty and the president's duty. has congress been more agreeable to the president if they are the party of the president? guest: is a good question. i think you are right. it is when they are the party of the president. right now, congress is split. it is not moving fast on the agenda from president obama. when there were majorities in the house and senate, he got a lot of what you wanted. president bush got a lot of what he wanted from the republican

congress. the difference is the parties now are more ideologically solid than they used to be. you have a situation where the separation of powers can disappear when the same party controls both ends of pennsylvania avenue. host: this year marks the 40th anniversary of the schoolhouse rock video about when a bill becomes a law. "i am just a bill on capitol hill." guest: we teach why that is not really the way it works. you get the sense from the video that a bright idea from the rank-and-file membership might become a law. is better to think about congress, particularly the house, as a place where the

decision is made as to what the agenda will be in the rank-and- file respond. it does not quite work that way. the constitution requires bills to pass in identical form in the house and senate. that is the only thing in the constitution. the other legislative process is determined by the house and senate. host: i was going to sing it but we are out of time. one last thing. almost everything i learned in my high school civics class is what you are saying. john haskell from georgetown university, thanks for stopping by. tomorrow, "washington journal' will focus on sequestration. we will have two folks on to talk about defense department cuts and what sequestration will mean, any chance -- and a chance

for you to check in with one of the governors. that is tomorrow morning. we will take you now live to the marriott hotel in washington, d.c., as the morning session is about to start with gov. markell of delaware and gov. fallin of oklahoma. this morning's session is focused on miles from the private and public sector. this afternoon, a discussion on education and the workforce. thank you for joining us on the sunday. i hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. now live coverage of the winter nga meeting. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> c-span is back at the national governors' association

meeting. today, a look at how the public and private sector can work together to employ people with disabilities. one of the moderators in the foreground, judy woodruff, and gov. markell and governor allen are the chair and vice chair of this year's gathering. at 2:30, we will bring you a discussion about education. they should be starting momentarily. >> we're just about ready to get started, if everyone can take

their seats. thank you. >> good morning, everybody. i want to welcome all of you. i want to thank my colleagues for joining me for this moderated discussion on employing people with disabilities. we began our discussion yesterday on this topic during the opening plenary. the ceo of walgreens share the story of walgreens. we thought it was very

compelling white employing people with disabilities has been good for the company and its bottom line. today, i am excited to start discussions amongst governors that takes it to the next level about how states can support businesses in implementing programs to include these individuals with disabilities. as you will see today, advancing and one opportunities -- and dancing in plymouth opportunities for these folks cuts across partisan lines -- advancing these include opportunities for these folks cuts across partisan lines. everyone can and must work should have the opportunity to do so. the focus today is about leadership. i have talked with companies that have increased their employment of people with disabilities. i have heard time and time again about how important leadership is a critical factor. the commitment house to start at

the top. successful efforts to employ people with disabilities starts with the strong leadership. we have an incredible opportunity to spur action in our states to make it easier for businesses to employ people with disabilities. we're fortunate to have as our moderator is one of our most prominent journalists, a seasoned veteran with more than 35 years' experience covering the white house and nine presidential election. judy woodruff is co-anchor of "news hour." her body of work includes a documentary on nancy reagan, a project on young americans. she hosts her own show on bloomberg television. the founding co-chair of the women's media foundation, a former recipient of the edward r. murrow lifetime achievement award. a mother of three and disability advocates. we're fortunate to have heard today to moderate this session. please join me in welcoming our

esteemed moderator, judy woodruff. [applause] >> thank you, gov. markell. i am delighted to be here with you. i am especially pleased your highlighting this important issue of employment and work for people with disabilities. i am so glad to take part in facilitating this particular discussion coming on the heels of yesterday's comments. i know you had a wonderful conversation after he spoke. i am the mother of a son with significant physical disabilities since he was a teenager. i have seen firsthand how those with challenges have a much more difficult time getting an education and a job. all they want to do, in my view, is to become contributing members of society. i have yet to meet a person with

disabilities who has the capability of holding down a job who would rather do nothing and let others take care of him or her. our son jeff lives in an active community designed for people with disabilities. his work is at a college athletic center in maryland where he spends six hours a week keeping track of student i.d.'s , monitoring security, and the use of exercise equipment. it sounds like a small job and a little amount of time. he would love to work more, but it is a critically important part of his week. he had only been working there for one month, originally as a volunteer, when he spoke up and asked when he would start to be paid. [laughter] he got a check the next month. he takes his job so seriously that when the college president's wife came to use the facility for the first time

without an official i.d., he would not let her come and tell someone about it for her. he did not lose his job and they laugh about it today. my husband and i have seen what the difference it makes in his sense of self-worth to be able to perform work that is needed, to have people counting on him every day, and to be able to make a meaningful contribution. we want to talk about how that is happening and the country in the private sector and in the public sector. we have a superb panel to help facilitate this conversation. i want to introduce them. we will hear from them first. then we will bring all of the governors in to be part of the discussion. i would like to introduce joan mcgovern, a vice president at j.p. morgan chase. she is the engagement

manager with corporate technology. ceded to the right of the governors is the vice chair of the governors. to her right is neil christopher, a vice president of manufacturing operations of the company in maryland founded in 1947. they have over 60 employees. on your right in the center is judy human, a special adviser on international disability rights at the state department. she has spent more than 30 years in advance and the rights of those with disabilities internationally and in the u.s. every level of government. our fourth panelist is seated on your left. he is the professor of public

policy and director of the center for workforce development of rutgers -- at rutgers state university. it is a superb group of individuals to take part in our conversation today. i want to begin with you, joan, and ask from the corporate perspective when you have seen about what it is like to bring people with disabilities in, the possibilities and challenges. >> good morning, everyone. thank you for this opportunity. i am thrilled for the level of focus of this issue is being given today. congratulations to everyone on that. from 2004 to 2009, when i managed an initiative within j.p. morgan chase that took a look at people with disabilities and how we reflect

them across the firm in the full spectrum with our products, services, policies, and procedures. it started with the tone at the top. our ceo, corporate senior executives, business executives, managers throughout the firm, that was the directive. this is where we're going to go and how we're going to do it. from the leadership perspective, they were engaged. that was critical. moving forward, several other items i took a look at with the support of the firm was the pipeline. the outreach and where we were recruiting and what needed to be enhanced. from there, taking a look at hiring. the focus was going to be on skills. if an individual wanted a position at j.p. morgan-chase and they have the skills, we wanted to engage them and see how they would become part of our culture. insuring productivity.

how do we accommodate? what accommodations would be needed? where did we need to expect? what needed to be enhanced to make sure those accommodations could be carried forward? communications internally and externally. what are the various channels and what did we need to do? we moved forward on those. then technology, how do we insure technology is accessible? probably most important, how do we grow, broaden, and retain this level of employment in the firm? we realized people with disabilities looking to have a position, their approach is sometimes different. those differences needed to be embraced. it was in that difference that we found a huge opportunity. an effective way to do business. it was not just a matter of bringing individuals into the

firm, but how to retain them. we did not want to have a revolving door. it is an issue of placement. the numbers come in. then what happens to individuals. we wanted to take a look at the retention practices we need to put in place to enhance the careers. it is not just a job. we started to look and say, the individuals we have hired with disabilities, have them the power advocates to partner with every policy, service, and business. use them of subject matter experts within the firm with our products have and services as channels to our clients. along the way, what was so important was the job coaches for the organizations we dealt with. those are individuals able to

partner and support us as we continue to do business. they were able to assist us with working with the employees that have disabilities. i would ask you to be smart. this is not a broad brush initiative. it is not a one-size-fits-all. knowing the volume and quality of your pipeline within your state. there may be disabled veterans coming into your large cities as they come back from the war, from the middle east. as they come back and your state, work with the population. if it happens to the enlarged population who did a large population -- it happens to be a large population of the deaf

community, work with them. one of the items we did was to look at the skills. we worked with the states' vocational rehabilitation. we were able to set up a statewide data base. we would be able to upload our positions. we were able to see the candidates available. it was not the vocational rehabilitation organizations going out to various companies. it was one and done and made it very efficient. focus on retention as opposed to just placement. there may be an opportunity with job coaches with the state of the economy. there is a possibility to take a look at individuals that have retired or may be on unemployment. maybe there is a way to work that into the djokovic pipeline

-- into the job coach pipeline to assist companies moving forward. transportation is the last item i would like to speak about. that is from a remote access perspective. when areas we heard individuals saying -- that is one of the areas we heard individuals saying, i have gotten a position, how do i get there? we had to cross the threshold and work with the department of transportation to make that happen. in other states, instead of having a separate service of transportation for individuals with disabilities to come to our employment, we took a look at the transportation situation right now. maybe we just did different types of vehicles that can be called upon to be able to accommodate a person with a disability. candidates with disabilities

that can get to us, that have the skills, they work. thank you thank you for your time. [applause] >> how many cities or states? >> this was across the country. neill's turn to christopher from baltimore. >> thank you for inviting us back to the national governors' association. we are in much smaller employer with 60 employees. we have been in business since the late 1940's. we make windows and doors. we did not start out to hire people with disabilities. we were approached by a job developer from the arc that answered an ad replaced a local

newspaper. we were looking for. employees. the job developer called me and asked if we heard people with disabilities. i said that i would like to think that we do, but this is not a safe environment. we have machines capable of imputation. we have pieces of glass as big as the windows in this room. we have forklifts that move throughout the building. we would like to think we could accommodate people with disabilities, but it is probably not a safe environment. the job developer was very smart. she asked for 15 minutes of my time. i thought 15 minutes was exactly the right amount of time to brush her off. [laughter] i invited her to our facility. i went to the people that run the saws and asked what they needed to be more effective. they said, if you can have

people to put in the stripping, we can fly. janet said the people she was bringing like repetitive work. that seemed like it might be a good fit. we brought our first person in from the arc. it has to be a top-down initiative but also at the bottom up the initiative. i had to get the ball in from the owners of the company. -- i had to get the buy in from the owners of the company and the employees. they asked. questions. they have the same concerns about safety, logistics, how it would work. we found they were a very good partner. we cannot have done this without the arac. they provided job coaches and transportation. for the small company, that is

not an option. the arc does that work and provides us with very capable employees. our first employee came to us in 2003 and did a terrific job. we thought it was great and we would hire people with disabilities. robin looked around and saw other jobs. she said she would like to try putting hardware on windows. that is a complex job with a different iterations of products. we waited until a slow time and gave her a chance to do it. she did a terrific job. now we did not have anybody to put the stripping in the windows and doors. we had to go back and say we needed another person. the process group. -- grew. we had three people from the arc. a lot of them come from the social security transition program. she said she had a young lady

about to graduate from high school and asked to vote be interested in hiring her. she said she was coming from the maryland school for the blind. she said she is blind when it might be a good fit. we brought jessica and with her parents. her dad is an engineer. her mother is a teacher. very bright people, all of them. very particular. she is blind with other disabilities. we gave it a shot. the job coaches had been with us for a week or two with other people. with jessica, the job coaches were there for six weeks. it had nothing to do with her. it had to do with me. i was very concerned. they finally had to trick me. they said we need the job coach at another place. can you give her up for a day? jessica was fine. this was our concern as a manufacturer. i have had the opportunity to talk to the social security advisory board.

that is what the region that is one of the points were asked about what keeps companies from hiring people with disabilities. i would say the number one factor is fear. let us show you how it can work. take a tour. you will notice jess. she has a yellow hard hat -- so the forklift operators can see her. we have been able to mainstream all of these employees through these job coaches like everybody. the people from the arc just what a job. they want an opportunity to look around and see another job. we are a small enough companies so we can give them an opportunity to try other jobs. does not been one time in the 10 years we have been doing this

where someone has not been able to achieve what they thought they could achieve by looking around. that is a tremendous testament to them, to their job coaches into the process of the park itself. -- the arc itself. the baby boomers are retiring. all of us will be looking to hire people from pools that are not being tapped right now. people with disabilities will be one of those pools. the top down is important. you have to have been by in of management. the bottom up -- buy in from management. the bottom up is important. as i said earlier, safety is a big concern. at the time we partnered with the are, we partnered with a company and we were looking to

have our company workplace safer. everything we did to make our workplace safer for the people with disabilities made it safer for all of us. as of friday, we were killed as we worked 2300 days without a loss or accident. this is partly with might partnership with the arc. it made us a strong company. it made us interact with one another in the way we did not normally interact. when we first talked to the arc, one of the owners of the company came and brought chess and checkers sets. he wanted people to sit down and play games and wire our brains differently. it was a great exercise. but that was what it was, and exercise. when we looked to accommodate

people with disabilities, that was a real excise with real benefits. every idea did not come from me. it did not come from the job coaches of the arc. it came from the men and women who worked side by side with our employees from the arc. if found a way for jess to get from her work station to the lunchroom. they found ways for her to communicate her knees throughout the day. the best thing it did, it mays -- make us a kinder company. we care about one another and we started caring about the people. in manufacturing, you have some tough days. i can talk to jess and jordan or charles and walked back to my office with a smile on my face because they are so proud of

what they have done. jordan barnes, a young man who came to us from the arc has a brother who is a baltimore city police officer. he idolizes his brother. the first thing he did with his first paycheck was to take his brother to dinner. he was so proud he was able to do that. he took his cell phone 80 had pictures of his brother and his brother's -- she took his cell phone and he has pictures of his brother and his brother's wife. there are disabled people at my table. there are people from nigeria and the sudan and the people from where our plant is located. it is normal. that has been the best part of my experience. it has made us a kinder and more compassionate company. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, neil, for those

personal and those that make your experiences come to life. judy newman, now advising the state department. you have experiences from outside the government and with gno's. >> thank you very much. i went over before to speak with governor markell. as everyone has been saying yesterday and today, this is really about leadership. leaders are the ones who have to give the direction at the state level, at the corporate level in the public and private sector. for me, i had polio in 1949. i grew up with a disability. we have certainly seen many significant changes in the united states and around the world where more disabled people are actually going to school,

being educated, having greater opportunities to enter the workforce. we are talking about people with all types of disabilities. people who may not have rights which is from high schools and individuals who have post- doctorate degrees. -- people who may not have graduated from high school to individuals who have post doctorate degrees. how do we deliver a message that allows employees of state government and the citizenry at large to understand that we see disabled individuals, all types of disabilities, from all backgrounds, being a meaningful parts of our workforce. what i have seen over my many years of work in different jobs is we need to look for different opportunities. in the federal government, there is something called schedule a. it was started in the carter

administration. it is a program still being worked on. at it is an important part -- it is an important part of what the government is doing. every agency is required to have a schedule a manager. that manager works with all the hiring managers in their agency. in addition to giving them information on what their obligations are under schedule a, they get people to start thinking about what needs to happen and we are trying to get people into the pipeline. at the state, we have been doing a lot of different things. we have many different opportunities. hundreds of individuals who are either stay in school and high- school or through graduate programs and have an interest in international work apply for positions as interns at stake.

we decided it was important to be able to allow disabled people to know that we were in clean them in this mix. one of the issues we are having to deal with is, while leaders may have this as a vision, frequently the people we are reaching out to in the case of disabled people, are not really convinced by this. you do not see disabled people on your staff. they do not see focused i'll wish to bring disabled people in two different jobs -- they do not see focused outreach to bring disabled people into different jobs. we have increased the number of job fairs. we had a job scared that had 150 disabled individuals with the would-we had a job fair that had won just 50 disabled -- we had a job fair that had 150 disabled individuals different skills.

that is a real benefit for the hiring manager. we have also been doing work with him into colleges and universities where we have been reaching out to them and their various associations. there is any group that focuses on disabled student services around the united states. we have people of god out to speak at their meetings to let them know we are -- we have had people go out to speak at their meetings to let them know we are looking for people. we are looking for them to come into the job market. we are also talking to various organizations that the state department supports. state governments have grass and contrast with many entities. -- grants and contracts with different entities. it is a critical parts of the

work we are doing. we are including it in language that is written when people are applying for grants. we are meeting with people at various organizations that typically are not doing work including the subject matter of disability and disabled people in the work force. we meet with the head of the organizations and they have to speak with their staff to let us know what they are doing. that is beginning to have a permeating effect across the institution. similar work is being done in other government agencies. for me, the issue of mentorship s, internships, insuring as governors you have a visible team of people across york agencies that are responsible for reporting back to you -- across your agencies that are responsible for reporting back to you. when we are looking at disabled

individuals, we are looking at people with different levels of expertise. we are looking at people who are coming into the workforce. onset of disability occurs at different stages of people's lives. there are people like myself who had been disabilities when they were young, but there are many individuals who acquired disabilities for a variety of reasons. some in the work force and some while they are working, but not on the job. not -- we want to make sure we can keep those people in the work force. we have to look at people who are working to acquire a disability or whatever reason. what are we specifically doing to ensure people are not go off on disability benefits. i hear this story all the time. a person who did not have a disability who had a job who acquired a disability and went to someone in their profession to say what can i do to keep my

job? frequently, people are told, go off on disability benefits. there are many reasons we do not want that to happen. for those people who did not want to go on benefits, they figure out how to stay on their job. there are plenty of people are leaving the work force because we are not holding managers accountable to make sure someone who acquires a disability stays in the workforce so we can make reasonable accommodations. when we are looking at individuals who acquired their disabilities when they were younger, really involving parents early on is critically important. i mean really early. all of your states have early intervention programs. it is important to be giving messages to parents when their children are just born or just identified as having a disability that there is an

expectation that their child will be able to work. we are really here to assist them to be able to continue to give that positive message. that message is given in the messaging at the state level. in the branding you are doing, are disabled people and visible part of what is happening? if not, what can you do? we are ensuring that the secretary and other senior people, when they are going out, that disabled people are part of the meetings. the speeches they are giving on whatever the subject, we try to get disability included. it is an across the board issue. as people are becoming older, we want people to see that even if they are acquiring a disability, we want them to be able to stay in the work force. for those individuals who have grown up not seen disabled

people as a meaningful part of the work force, we have to change all our minds as to help people realize that if they have the qualifications and government and others will help people get those qualifications if they need additional training, have been in the workforce, that is our objective. thank you. [applause] >> judy, if i could just follow up with one question to you, when you were finishing your education, you have an expectation that you would be able to find employment? >> my parents were focused on my getting a job. there were not a lot of people around me talking about being able to get a job. i was lucky and i became a client of the department of rehabilitation in new york. they helped me go to university, which was important. most job coaching i got was in

the fourth -- with great. i was in special education classes and there was a speech therapist -- the most job coaching i got was in the fifth grade. she took me aside one day and she said, you should be a speech therapist because you could get an m.r.s. degree and work in a hospital. when i was in fifth grade, i had no idea of what an mrs degree was. i wanted to be a teacher. i minored in education because my friends with disability said, cannot tell the department of rehabilitation you want to be a teacher because they will only pay for you to go to school to get a job in an area where other people have not been able to get tough in. in new york city, there had been

the people who use wheelchairs who have been hired as teachers. i majored in speech pathology to be that speech therapist that i never was and i minored in education. i had to sue the board of education to get my job because i was rejected because i could not walk. i got my job and spent three years in new york and went to berkeley. >> fascinating. it is and an even course. >> even today. that is why the leadership issue is so important. children need to start seeing themselves with different disabilities in the work environment. >> is stars when they are very young. the fourth panelist -- -- it starts very young. the fourth panelist is somebody who last and research on all these questions we have been discussing this morning. professor, you have been working with a number of the governors.

>> i have. thank you, governors, for inviting me today. i have the privilege of working for most of the governors of new jersey for both parties for a number of years. i have a personal understanding of how important your role is in advancing any issue, especially an issue like this. i want to start with a couple of datapoints. i am is a professor so i want to get these out on the table. there are many people with disabilities who are working today. they are 10% of the u.s. population. that is 20 million people. we are likely to see that increase as the size of our population of older americans increases. they will get page -- age onset disabilities.

many of those people will have age onset disabilities whether it is hearing, muscular skeletal problems, vision, and so on. i think you all know by now that the unemployment rate with people among -- with disabilities is twice the average. the u.s. population is almost 70%. it is extraordinarily low. as we have already heard today, there are millions of employers who hire people with disabilities and find it to be a successful experience. in the most recent national survey, one in five american employers say they have hired a person with a disability, including half of the larger firms in the united states. there are many productive people in the united states workforce today. we kind of testimony we have

heard today is important in overcoming the attitude of managers about barriers to hiring a person with disabilities. it is its main link between their ears rather than in reality. -- they exist mainly between their ears rather than in reality. the other point that people talk about all the time is that it is difficult to accommodate people with disabilities. it is going to cost a lot of money. in a national survey, six in 10 employers said that the cost of accommodation was zero two level. those who did have to make an accommodation said the average cost was $500. it is not a huge carrier financially that people may think. we have done research on what governments around the country have done. many of the governors in this

room have taken that you should roll already. if i did not mention a state, i apologize in advance. i may have forgotten somebody. i am sure i will hear from you later. there are five areas where governors have been poured in. we have already mentioned leadership. the leadership is specifically around identifying their standing as an employer -- and plan a first state. that is to take the symbolic leadership role and say we are making a public commitment to advancing an integrated competitive employment for people with disabilities, which is raising awareness in making sure state governments are working closely with industry to dispel myths about the cost of hiring people with disabilities. try to change expectations. governor christie of our state has been one of those governors to take a leadership role. even beyond that, having gone

into the bureaucracy of state government, it is so important -- you have heard it already in case studies -- state government plays such an important role in working with employers who are interested in hiring people with disabilities. we have done a number of case studies and i am happen to make these available to you through the nga staff of house case have succeeded in working with the employers who want to -- staff of states who have succeeded in working with employers who want to hire people with disabilities. in some cases, it was a state agency. a labor department. in other cases, it was a community provider. from the standpoint of the employer, they are looking at a potentially productive worker. they are not able to or adjusted

in disentangling the of the soup of complex government progress. it is hard enough for us to disentangle it sometimes. if a group community provider or a state agency plays that role, those barriers that keep disabled person encounters can disappear right away. we did a report called ready and able. what it talks about is how the work force is bare -- there and you have to make them get into it. one of the largest foundations focusing on disability in the in the distance. walgreens is one of work with security provider. this role of the governor making sure that his or her subordinates agency is working

together to meet those needs is absolutely critical. the players will hire people with disabilities if those barriers are lowered. a third area where states have led is in acting as model employers and showing they are making the commitment themselves to hire people with disabilities. by my count, there are 6-10 states already doing this. how do they do this? by providing capital funding for the accommodations, even though they may be minimal. by supporting disability awareness training and by encouraging state managers and internships and other opportunities for young people to come into state government. there are a number of states who are doing that. the next area is in the field of providing incentives to encourage people to hire people with disabilities. there are several states that

have disability and employment tax credits, which support which is paid to employees with health care, transportation expenses, and so on. there are variations on them. the idea is to give an extra boost to those companies that are willing to go ahead and do that. another is in the area of state procurements provinces for disability-owned small businesses. there are preferences for women and minority-owned businesses. last, and this is an interesting model, loan programs and technical assistance to companies that are willing to higher people with disabilities in order to make their work places accessible. in the state of maine, the citizens of maine approved a bond issue that led a

competitive process to help small firms to make those actions accommodations they cannot afford to make on their own. last is providing special marketing of the various federal tax incentive programs. in all these different ways, governors are already leading. what this initiative will do -- i congratulate the governors for doing this -- will raise this to another level. there is a need. instead of looking at this as a challenge that is difficult to surmount, you are helping people realize this is an opportunity that can be seized. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, professor. we want to get as many of you governors involved in this discussion as we can. i know that a number of new have

had an level of experience with the issues we are discussing. there are a couple of you who particularly have something to say. i will turn to you, governor dugard of south dakota. you have worked with an express roundtable. we would like to hear from you. >> thank you. i was invited by governor markell to participate with him. governor, i am impressed at your green this as your initiative. it is much was that i thought it would be. i am impressed with the practical, real concrete suggestions that i gleaned in october and i.m. gleening again today -- and i am gleening again

today. i want to do more. i am embarrassed to say i have some connection with that. one of the things the governor asked me to do was to relay a story i relayed last october. i will do that. i grew up in eastern south dakota along the minnesota border. the plains are so flat that if your dog runs away, you can see him for several days. [laughter] my grandparents came from denmark in 1903. they were teenagers. got married in iowa and bought a small farm in south dakota, where my father was born three years later right in the farmhouse there. on that firm where they had

bought. dad was bought born -- was born profoundly deaf. i had to laugh when i was with him at a doctor's appointment and the nurse tried to take his temperature was one of those birkenau the monitors. of course, that had no -- ear canal the monitors. of course, he had no ear canal. back in those days, it was still farming with horses. what was going up, dad would tell me how they would get up in the morning and they were still using oil lamps when he was young girl. they would get up in the morning when it was still dark and my grandfather would milking cows for milk for the household. my uncle howard would harness the horses and get them ready for the field work and that would feed the cattle and the

halt and they would come back in for breakfast. that was the beginning of their firm base. dad talked about in those -- that was the beginning of their farm days. they would harness the horses through a wagon and go to turn into their business. on the way home, it was about 10 miles involving several corners and turns. they could just go to sleep because the voices knew the way home. that was -- horses knew the way home. that was farm life in those days. they attended school 25 miles away. was to been far to go in those days every day. they rode the train and they will live in sioux falls at the dorm and come home on some weekends. in those days, technology was

limited and there were few services for the deaf. my mother was born in council bluffs i wish the-council bluffs -- council bluffs, iowa. she was born profoundly deaf. she had severe hearing loss. mom and dad met in their late thirties and got married and settled around on our family farm. mom and dad lived there in the same firm house where dad had been born. both of my parents taught me the value of hard work and i saw their pride and so sufficiently. when i was going up, we had a herd of milk cows. for me, it was up every morning at 5:00 to milk the cows with dad and back at it every evening after school. the farm was not big enough to

making going of its with just that quarter -- going of it with just that quarter section. dad had an off-farm job, too. dad could not find work. i was little, but i remember still today, parents argued in sign language, which is vigorous and quiet. how they argued about unemployment. dad did not want to accept unemployment. dad found a job as a janitor where he ended up demonstrated the same loyalty to the employer.

he was trying to make firm payments at the time. i do not know how he kept it up, but he did -- she was trying to make farm payments at the time. i cannot know how he kept it up, but he did. there were a few products offered to help the deaf. a microphone was caught in the crib when i was an infant. when i would cry, it would cause a switch to cause a light two/so that my parents would know i was crying. -- a light to flash so that my parents would know i was crying. in this world, people with disabilities often develop higher levels of determination and a compass men because they have to. with the support of their

friends, those disabilities can drain just as we all do with what has disabilities or not. we are all challenge. if we aspire low, we will achieve to lay low. if we aspire higher, we will achieve higher whether we have a disability or not. some would get people with disabilities and say he cannot or she cannot. they focus on the disability. it is more important for all of us. it is what is inside. persons with disabilities are no different from those without disabilities. they are the same in the most important way. we have our own well. a person is going to fail if they think like a failure. when my parents were first married and my mother became pregnant a year later, people in our own family wondered how they

could raise children, these two of people. how would the children learn anything? how would they learn to talk temple they were focusing on the disability. fainted -- how would they learn to talk? they were focusing on the disability. my sisters and i were high achievers. our pens and still seeing right to values in us. -- our parents instilled the right values in us. my father helped linda and me when we build our home. we bought the farmhouse and move in with them and build our own home with our own hands across the yard. i would never have done that if the fund had not set, you can do this. we hired someone to dig -- i

would not have done that if my father had not said, you can do this. i would never have had the courage to try that if my dad had not said, we can do this. and we did. when i was growing up, my sisters and i were the interpreters for dad and mom when outsiders came to the farm or when we went out in public. if dad had an appointment with the doctor, i would go and interpret. more often than not, if i was not there, they would communicate by writing on a piece of paper back and forth to communicate. when a television show was playing, that would watch the pictures, but the conversations or inaccessible to him. if he wanted to contact one of his the french, i would have to contact a neighbor so -- friends, i would have to contacting able to walk over and

find out if the french -- friend was at home. today, if that were still living, i could call him on my cell phone and dial a relay service and reach an mean the operator and the relay operator with, that's internet protocol operator and a light would flash on top of the television in mind that would pick up the remote and he would push the button on the remote and instead of watching the cbs evening news, he would be looking at a video interpreter say, hi, dad, it's dennis calling, how are you? i am on my phone in the office and he is in the living room. changes to not happen overnight. dad had to adapt to that. he could not watch television in

his underwear anymore. [laughter] the point i am making is that technology has provided meeting tools to workers with disabilities. whether they are video relay services or electric wheelchairs or whatever they may be, a lot of technology has made the world of work more accessible to citizens with his ability than it ever was before. in south dakota, in our custer state park, the state game lodge has a guest week named for president calvin coolidge. in the days before air conditioning, he wanted to get out of hot and humid d.c. in the summer. he went to our custer state park any life is so much he stay for three months and made it the summer white house. one of the swede is named for

kelvin clueless. i mention that because he says something was i think isn't -- one of isuites is named for kelvin -- of the suites is named for calvin coolidge. he said the world is full of educated derelicts. today, we talk about and recognize people like my parents, who surmounted disabilities and achieve success in the world of work. these are people who have worked harder than most. they are people with determination and courage. i am unearned 1 i am among them. we also honor their employers. -- i am honored with i am among

them. these employers know that hiring people with disabilities is good business. adversity builds character and people with character and good employees. thanks for giving me your time and attention. i have enjoyed this panel. i have enjoyed being with you last october, jack. i thank all of the players here who open their minds and job sites to which employees with disabilities. by helping them, you are helping yourselves. your efforts also unlocked doors formally -- formerly closed to workers with disabilities. you give people like my parents a chance to live their lives with dignity. thank you. [applause]

>> governor, thank you very much for that powerful, a personal story. you can tell by the reaction how much of a buddy is tinged by that. i just want to ask you one short follow-up question. because of your own experience and what you have seen and what you have left, what is one thing you as a governor can do to make employing people with disabilities more possible, more realistic for employers in your state and other states? >> i have been impressed with the past the steps that are offered to talk about the leadership from the top and involve people with disability -- involving people with

disabilities. implement first is a policy that your state is going to follow. citizens with disabilities -- the best service the government can give is help with finding employment. to help parents understand that if they have a child with disabilities, they can inculcate in that child the notion that i am expected to work when i become an adult instead of the notion that, i am disabled and i cannot work. it is all in one's head. for those with disabilities who wants to work, we should be racing to find opportunities for them to work. it is usually beneficial. >> i would like to turn next to governor malloy of connecticut.

you have worked with walgreens. you want to tell us about your experience. >> i spoke with the prospect of walgreens and we use that distribution center as a role model to bring people in and out of there on a constant basis. we have centers being built nearby. we have taken a holistic approach. one of the big problems for people with disabilities and can work is that frequently they can only work part time. a twist between working part time with no benefits and causing you to -- a choice between working part time with no benefits and losing benefits because you are working. if you are a person with disabilities can you get a job, we are still going to provide the health benefits that you

need that are not provided to your pull employer. -- provided through your employer. this is a common-sense approach to make sure people with disabilities do not have to choose between but the they are going to see their doctor or whether they are going to work. situation,reen's they provide the level of benefits. a lot of employers are not in a position to do that. we also have a connection to work program. we work with people with disabilities to link them to employers who are willing to employ them or give them a shot or give them an interview. it is an activist program. all of our social service agencies are heavily involved in this. we have another program content ability that works across disabilities and age groups to remove all the barriers that prevent people from being able to work.

we provide information tools and technical assistance to job seekers and we offered to help train a employers on how to interact and how to employ a person with disabilities. lots of people have a desire in the heart to do it, but they do not have the experience to do it. we are trying to provide a system that will speak areas to employees -- employee is to hiring people with disabilities. we try to make sure people can learn from a distance to get the skill sets they mean that they will be able to use in an employment situation. we are taking this very holistic. i have all of my social service commission to get the on a regular basis. i mentioned this yesterday. the scene of the reasons we are interested in doing this and are so committed to it in connecticut are twofold. we have seen an increase in disabled veterans as a result of these two wars.

that pipeline is going to continue long after the wars are over as people get to a level of rehabilitation that might allow them to be employed part-time or full-time. we all it to these patriots to make sure that i have a child. we should do everything in our power with respect with that. there is another issue. more people are being diagnosed with all the testing -- that goes with autism. the numbers have gone up significantly -- diagnosed with autism. --ple with severe altus' and autism will be able to work at least part-time. warehousing people. we have done that in our country for a long time. some of our states have made real progress on that away from

large warehouse to smaller where houses. the best place to spend your day if you have a disability or if you have autism or if you are a veteran who has the engine is in a job full-time or part-time. -- who has been injured ins in a job in a full-time or part-time. >> i would like to turn to the governor of iowa. you have your own set of experiences. >> judy, thank you very much. i'd like to acknowledge emily, who contributed coffee products that are part of the greenback's that -- goodie bags that mrs. markell is committed. we have embarked on a program in i will call the skilled iowa initiative. this is designed to improve

little skills. we have a metal skills gap in our state. we travel throughout the state and we talk to employers that have jobs available, but they cannot find people with the right skill set. it is a public-private partnership. we have gotten some private sector people to contribute to help people upgrade their skills. this program is not just limited to people with disabilities. we are specifically focusing on maximizing the opportunity for people to improve their skills and their competitiveness and people with disabilities are an important part of this. we are partnering and collaborating with the private sector with on the job customized training. customized to the individual's means so they have the skills sense for those jobs that are out there in the marketplace --

skills sense -- skillsets for those jobs that are out there in the marketplace. iowa also has a transition program for use with disabilities to assist them in making the transition from high school to the workplace or on to higher education. iowa has expanded our opportunities through virtual access points for people seeking employment and we have one-stop career centers to allow the state. -- centers throughout the state. these one-stop career centers are open on saturdays so that they are more accessible to people to assist iowans with disabilities in counseling.

we recognize this is critically important. senator harkins from iowa has been a real eye as a kid. -- real advocate. >> a quick follow-up. is there an obstacle to doing more of what you have done? what would you say is the main thing that is holding you back? is it just funding? >> the other speakers have addressed this. part of it is a mind-set, getting people to think outside the box in little bit. hearing from other employers who have had good success. people with disabilities have greater determination. they have less absenteeism. they are great employees. those businesses that have had

experiences hiring people with disabilities find that out and become really good applicants. we have to utilize those people. we are from walgreen's yesterday as amicus to convince others to try it. -- have a kid -- advocates to convince others to try it. it has got to be individualized. it does vary depending on the individual and the workplace. we need to customize it to meet the needs of the individual, but also with the accommodations that might be necessary. as you have heard, those are not that expensive. >> i want to call on governor herbert of utah. you have also been thinking about this issue and have your own experiences in utah.

>> thank you, judy. we all think about it and nothing -- been thinking about it more thanks to governor markell. i think all of us are such an impacted by people with disabilities. in my family, i have a couple of special needs children. we have friends and quinces -- and acquaintances with children with disabilities. we all have limitations. some are more noticeable than others. we are all in that group of humanity where we are not perfect. i appreciate this issue being brought forward. i just say amen to all that has been said already. i have a lady that works for me, i director of workforce

services. she has been very good at dishing out to the department of workforce services -- good at reaching out to people with disabilities. she has a 3.9 gpa. she has studied abroad and work abroad. she was part of maryland governor's cabinet. she was the secretary of the first department of disabilities. she ran for lieutenant governor in maryland. she has been successful in public and private life. she moved back to utah and we put her in the department of workforce services. she has done some great things. we have a people with disabilities network, which she

helped organize. it is designed to reach out to businesses, of which we have 328, and help them connect with people with disabilities, actually targeting people with disabilities for their open positions. they have a job fair ataxia. we have training at the companies sunday -- they have a job fair twice a year. chris has done a great job in reaching out. she has done such a great job that i just promoted her to be my budget director and the director of our office of management and budget. she set a high bar for all of us to follow in what she has done in our department of workforce services.

the goal is to improve utah's government efficiency by 25 percent over the next five years. it is not what she has done, it is what she has overcome. she is blind. she is an inspiration and a motivation for anybody she is around. just like judith in your inspirational message and others that we note with us to do more and make sure we are giving them -- that we know to motivate us to do more and make sure we are giving them every opportunity. as judith and dennis have said, it is a mind-set. people have that can-do spirit. we have to make sure they believe they can do it. we also need to say we believe

you can, too. that is the mindset and shift we need to embrace. it is that a matter of what you cannot do. it is what you can do. we need to find opportunities to help them. i grabbed chris' resume before i came over. it is six pages long. she said people with disabilities are just like everybody else. if they want to have a home and a family and continue to society and have a job and give that can help others. that is a desire we all have. there is no difference. we have differences and limitations. we all have liabilities and it is really us working together that is the important thing. i appreciate markell for bringing this to our attention. what we are doing is learning

from each other best practices. we are more sensitive to those that we are maybe a little more ambivalent in our activities in life. we need to reach out more. it is not just government that needs to reach out. it is our privatisation. private businesses are finding ways to employ those with disabilities -- it is our private organizations. this is a great forum for us to learn from each other. at the end of the day, we are all trying to find ways to give extended opportunity to those who have disabilities so that they can give back to society and helpless all-pro and progress of the. thanks, jack -- to those who have disabilities so that they can give back to society.

thanks, jack. >> i want to make sure the the body was to contribute to this discussion, who has an experience -- make sure everybody who wants to continue to this discussion, who has an experience of their own. governor walker, i want to hear from you. >> thank you. thanks to governor markell. where i grew up was the home of the circus. dennis, you may need tear up a little bit. not because of anyone in my family but two of my neighbors were death. thank you for reinforcing the message that all the speakers have mentioned above how powerful this is. i would just add, we have a

program in wisconsin that is similar to what we heard yesterday from greg in terms of all grains. while grains is expanding in wisconsin as well. we are working with our hospitals as greg mentioned yesterday, it is not about finding people with disabilities and finding positions for them, but working with employers to find out what their needs are. the governor mentioned this in terms of iowa and finding out with the skills work. in our case, the most exceptional jobs in our hospitals for areas where they have incredible need. we toward one of our hospital sunday for sterilizing surgical equipment. they need to find people without any --

we had people who could do repetitive work. critz fulfillment. it was wonderful in terms of the therapeutic work that was being done. in return, the hospitals cut dedicated, well-prepared, will focus to employees. we heard about that. the other thing i mentioned -- i mention this to chat as well -- i had the honor -- to jack as well. i had the honor of going out to take care legislators to work today. we had a company where a young man named patrick works at a company where they make wristbands for festivals or events or even as the parks. events or even as the parks.