Buttigieg unveils new plan to help people with disabilities

White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Saturday released a multi-pronged plan to remove obstacles that people with disabilities face. 

The multi-pronged plan intends to tackle discrimination in employment, education, voting, healthcare and transportation. Among other things, it will work to double workforce participation rates of people with disabilities by 2030 and ensure that 85 percent of students with disabilities learn in general education classrooms for at least 80 percent of the day.

{mosads}“Our country is stronger when we draw on the talents and capacity of every American,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “I’m committed to working alongside the disability community as President to systematically dismantle discrimination against people with disabilities, and ensure our government works for them.”

To help boost employment rates for people with disabilities, a Buttigieg administration would invest $5 billion in 10 years in a national apprenticeship program that ensures access to a well-paying job, “specially for people with disabilities,” within 30 miles of their home and increase federal subcontracting with “disability-owned businesses.”

The South Bend, Ind., mayor would also strengthen data collection and invest in supplementary aids and services to “create an expectation of inclusion” in classrooms, direct the Department of Education to issue guidance on alternatives to punitive disciplinary practices, and better coordinate students’ programs and services to help students with disabilities with the transition from high school to college. 

Buttigieg would also expand funding for accessible voting machines and polling places, ensure those with disabilities can receive care in their home, and require transportation projects that receive federal funding to be 100 percent accessible. 

The plan comes as the party’s base continues to view social justice as an increasingly high priority.

Buttigieg has consistently polled at or near the top tier of most national and early state polls and has been competitive in fundraising with several of the field’s frontrunners.