Governor Bevins signs Executive Order establishing the Kentucky Work Matters Task Force
COURIER-JOURNAL
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FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Matt Bevin on Tuesday signed an order creating a high-level task force to recommend ways to eliminate obstacles that the disabled often confront in finding a job.
At a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, Bevin established the 23-member Kentucky Work Matters Task Force that includes top members of his administration, representatives of other parts of state government and citizens familiar with the issue,
The governor said 54.7 percent of Kentucky’s workforce has a job, which is below the national average of 62.9 percent. And Kentucky’s disabled population is 15.7 percent, compared to the national average of 10.4 percent.
“There are fewer people with disabilities working as a percentage of our population,” Bevin said. “And so, as a whole, this is something that we are going to be working on.”
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Jennifer Sheehy, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Department of Labor, spoke at the event, saying federal officials want to know “what is happening in states and support that.”
The task force will also recommend ways to improve workforce participation for other groups, Bevin said, including foster children, disabled veterans, and people with substance abuse or criminal records.
