Cotton bill would drop pre-employment requirements for young adults entering subminimum wage jobs; Texarkana nonprofit backs the change
TEXARKANA, Ark. — U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton wants to remove federal requirements that young adults with disabilities complete vocational rehabilitation and career counseling before they can work for less than minimum wage — a change one Texarkana provider says can’t come soon enough.
Cotton, R-Ark., introduced S.4984 on July 15. It targets Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act, which since 2016 has required people with disabilities age 24 and younger to complete pre-employment transition services, a vocational rehabilitation review and career counseling before starting work under a Section 14(c) certificate. Those certificates allow employers, mostly nonprofit community rehabilitation programs — to pay workers with disabilities below the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
The bill, titled the Restoration of Employment Choice for Adults with Disabilities Act, would rewrite that provision so an entity may employ an adult 18 or older at subminimum wage if the individual chooses to accept the job. The remaining documentation requirements would apply only to those 17 and younger, and employers could satisfy the law’s ongoing career counseling requirement by showing the state vocational rehabilitation agency failed to provide the counseling after documented attempts to arrange it. A House companion is pending in committee.
The bill’s stated purpose is “to ensure workplace choice and opportunity for young adults with disabilities.” It has no cosponsors and awaits action in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Local provider: requirements sideline willing workers
Texarkana Resources for the Disabled supports the bill, CEO Jennifer Lewis told TXKtoday. The nonprofit holds an active 14(c) certificate covering 42 workers, according to U.S. Department of Labor records.
Lewis said the current requirements “can unintentionally delay meaningful vocational opportunities for young adults with disabilities who are ready to begin building work skills immediately after high school.” The organization has seen graduates eager to join its vocational training program who couldn’t because they hadn’t completed the pre-employment requirements, she said.
“Watching motivated individuals lose valuable time during this critical transition period is both frustrating and heartbreaking for families and providers alike,” she told TXKtoday.
The legislation “expands options rather than limiting them,” Lewis said. Not everyone has the same goals or timeline for entering community employment, she said, and some families choose structured vocational settings partly because asset limits tied to Medicaid programs like Arkansas’ Community and Employment Supports (CES) Waiver can penalize higher earnings.
Lewis also pointed to the organization’s Supported Employment Program, which places individuals in competitive community jobs, saying that option “should always be encouraged, supported, and available to those who choose that path.”
The organization recently celebrated one of those transitions. A client named Johnny, referred to Texarkana Resources three years ago by the Literacy Council, built friendships in the program and served the community through its Aktion Club before landing a job at Rocketfast Car Wash through Supported Employment. “This is what happens when organizations work together to lift people up,” the organization said in announcing the milestone.
Disability rights groups have defended Section 511
Congress created the Section 511 requirements in 2014 as a guardrail meant to steer young people toward competitive integrated employment — jobs at or above minimum wage alongside workers without disabilities — before they enter subminimum wage settings. Disability rights groups have long argued that few workers who enter sheltered workshops ever transition out.
Disability Rights Arkansas, the state’s federally designated protection and advocacy organization, had not responded to a TXKtoday request for comment as of publication. This story will be updated if a response is received.
Arkansas ranks near the bottom nationally in disability employment. Roughly 32% of working-age Arkansans with disabilities are employed, compared with about 76% of those without, according to the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium.
Arkansas among the nation’s heaviest users of 14(c)
A TXKtoday review of the Labor Department’s most recent 14(c) certificate list, published June 1, found 36 active certificates in Arkansas covering 1,619 workers paid subminimum wages in the employers’ most recent fiscal quarter — ninth-most in the nation. Nationally, 582 certificates covered about 31,270 workers, down from roughly 700 certificates and 39,000 workers in late 2024.
Nearly all Arkansas holders are community rehabilitation programs, along with four state-run human development centers. Conway Human Development Center is the state’s largest at 176 workers; Booneville follows at 117.
Texarkana Resources is the only certificate holder in the immediate Texarkana area. Nearby holders include Rainbow of Challenges in Hope (75 workers) and Howard County Children’s Center in Nashville (77), and southwest Arkansas as a whole accounts for roughly 450 of the state’s subminimum wage workers.
Worker counts are self-reported by employers, and one certificate can cover multiple work sites. No active certificates exist on the Texas side of the state line; the nearest are in East Texas.
Federal phase-out effort reversed last year
The bill arrives a year after the Labor Department abandoned an effort to end 14(c) entirely. The department proposed in December 2024 to phase out the certificates over three years, then withdrew the proposal in July 2025 after more than 17,000 comments, concluding it lacked authority to end a program Congress mandated.
Certificates continue to be issued — Texarkana Resources’ runs through November 2027 — leaving any change to Congress, where Cotton’s bill would ease the path in. More than a dozen states have banned or limited subminimum wages for workers with disabilities. Arkansas and Texas are not among them.
Full statement from Texarkana Resources:
Texarkana Resources for the Disabled, Inc. Statement in Support of S.4984
Texarkana Resources for the Disabled, Inc. supports S.4984 and the removal of the pre-employment requirements outlined in the proposed legislation.
From our experience, these requirements can unintentionally delay meaningful vocational opportunities for young adults with disabilities who are ready to begin building work skills immediately after high school. While many individuals ultimately pursue competitive integrated employment, not everyone is prepared to make that transition immediately. Having the flexibility to begin in a structured vocational training environment can provide the foundation and confidence needed for long-term success.
Texarkana Resources is fortunate to maintain a variety of employment and vocational training contracts that provide meaningful work experiences for individuals while they develop the skills necessary for future employment. Unfortunately, we have seen young adults graduate from high school eager to participate in our vocational training program but be unable to do so because they have not yet met the age and pre-employment requirements. Watching motivated individuals lose valuable time during this critical transition period is both frustrating and heartbreaking for families and providers alike.
The proposed legislation would provide individuals with disabilities and their families greater flexibility to choose the services and employment pathway that best meets their unique needs without first having to navigate unnecessary procedural barriers. For organizations like ours, this change would allow us to engage and support young adults earlier, increasing opportunities for skill development, confidence building, community involvement, and eventual employment success while ensuring a smoother transition from high school into adult services.
We recognize that discussions surrounding Section 14(c) certificate programs and subminimum wage employment are often controversial. However, the reality in Arkansas is that employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities remain extremely limited. Arkansas consistently ranks among the lowest states in the nation for employment of individuals with disabilities (last I checked it was 46th). At the same time, many individuals receiving Home and Community-Based Services must remain below strict financial asset limits in order to maintain access to essential supports such as housing assistance, transportation, personal care, behavioral supports, and financial management through programs like the CES Waiver.
Texarkana Resources is proud of our Supported Employment Program, which works every day to help individuals obtain and maintain competitive integrated employment within the community. We firmly believe that community employment should always be encouraged, supported, and available to those who choose that path. However, we also believe that true inclusion means respecting individual choice. Not every person has the same goals, abilities, or timeline for entering competitive employment, and no one pathway is appropriate for everyone.
S.4984 does not eliminate opportunities for community employment. Instead, it removes unnecessary restrictions that currently require individuals to pursue one specific path before they are allowed to consider another. This legislation expands options rather than limiting them. It restores greater autonomy by allowing individuals with disabilities and their families to determine which employment pathway best aligns with their personal goals, abilities, and circumstances.
Ultimately, this legislation reinforces our commitment to person-centered services and self-determination. It allows individuals to choose whether to begin in community employment, participate first in a vocational training program to build skills, or transition between those options over time. Whatever path they choose, individuals with disabilities deserve the same right as anyone else to make informed decisions about their own lives. S.4984 helps restore that choice, removes unnecessary barriers, and empowers individuals to pursue the employment journey that is right for them.