Javits–Wagner–O'Day Act
The Javits–Wagner–O'Day Act 41 U.S.C. § 46 et seq. is a U.S. federal law requiring that all federal agencies purchase specified supplies and services from nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other significant disabilities. The Act was passed by the 92nd United States Congress in 1971 as a significant amendment to a prior act in 1938.
History[edit]
The act is named after its sponsor, Senator Jacob K. Javits, and the Wagner–O'Day Act, passed by the 75th United States Congress in 1938, which had been named after Senator Robert F. Wagner and Congresswoman Caroline O'Day.[1]
Javits led the efforts to expand the older law, which was called the Wagner–O'Day Act, and which mandated that federal agencies purchase products from workshops for the blind meeting specific qualifications.[2][3] The effort for expansion succeeded in spite of objections raised by organizations representing the blind, as expressed for example in Resolution 68-04[4] passed in 1968 by the American Council of the Blind.
Agency overview
Federal Investigations[edit]
The Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act is itself a product of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies from 1933-1938. The Wagner O’Day act was signed into law on June 25, 1938, and required that all government agencies prioritize the purchasing of products to suppliers that employ individuals who are blind. The Javits–Wagner–O'Day Act expanded the law, requiring specified supplies and services come from nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities. The Act was passed by the 92nd United States Congress in 1971.[8]
Federal investigations surrounding the AbilityOne program, and its central non-profit agency SourceAmerica,[9] mirror the problems highlighted by Roosevelt’s failed National Industrial Recovery Act. The NIRA tossed away antitrust laws and suppressed competition by creating monopolies. These policies continued even after the NIRA was declared unconstitutional in 1935.[10]