Denver, Colorado, Oct. 25 – With 57.3 percent of Colorado’s 308,342 working-age people with disabilities out of work, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-2nd District) has responded to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility, outlining his views on training and hiring people with disabilities.

In his responses to 10 questions submitted by the organization, Rep. Polis repeatedly cited his work in starting two nonprofits, TechStars and Operation Bootcamp, that helped those in underrepresented communities and returning veterans start their own businesses.  Project Bootcamp, he noted, “specifically works with veterans and their families, many of whom live with a disability.”

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Topeka, Kansas, Oct. 25 – With 55.3 percent of Kansas’ 188,671 working-age people with disabilities out of work, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Senate Minority Whip Laura Kelly has responded to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility, outlining her views on training and hiring people with disabilities.

In her responses to 10 questions submitted by the organization, Kelly recalled that “one of my proudest accomplishments in the legislature was securing critical support for early childhood education programs” that said “help kids develop at an early age, identify any challenges they may face, and impact their families for the better.”

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Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 25 – With 54.1 percent of Iowa’s 175,367 working-age people with disabilities out of work, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell issued a statement in response to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility, outlining his views on training and hiring people with disabilities.

While declining to respond to 10 questions submitted by the organization, Hubbell issued a statement that was critical of Iowa’s decision to privatize Medicaid, which he called “a disaster.”

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Montgomery, Alabama, Oct. 25 – With 72.5 percent of Alabama’s 421,135 working-age people with disabilities out of work, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walter Maddox responded to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility, outlining his views on training and hiring people with disabilities.

In his responses to 10 questions submitted by the organization, Maddox repeatedly cited Alabama’s failure to expand Medicaid as a factor in disability unemployment.

Citing a recent University of Kansas study, Maddox asserted that “states that expand Medicaid are substantially more likely to see increases in employment by people with disabilities.”

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Lansing, Michigan, Oct. 25 – With 66.7 percent of Michigan’s 764,335 working-age people with disabilities out of work, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, the Republican nominee for governor, has issued an official response to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility, outlining his views on training and hiring people with disabilities.

In responses to 10 questions submitted by the organization, Schuette said that “Michigan must be a place where we grow our recovering economy and ensure there is no room for discrimination of any kind, because all people must be treated with dignity, grace and respect.”

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Tallahassee, Florida, Oct. 25 – With 67.8 percent of Florida’s 1,255,268 working-age people with disabilities out of work, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor, has issued an official response to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility, outlining his views on training and hiring people with disabilities.

Although Gillum failed to answer the 10 questions submitted by the organization, he responded with a formal statement asserting that “Floridians with disabilities deserve the same rights afforded to all Floridians.”

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Dover, Delaware, Oct. 25 –With 64.1 percent of Delaware’s 56,546 working-age people with disabilities out of work, Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Arlett responded to a questionnaire by the disabilities advocacy group RespectAbility, outlining his views on training and hiring people with disabilities.

In his responses to six questions submitted by the organization, Arlett noted that one of his key staff members is “high functioning Asperger’s Syndrome.”

“This individual is in charge of scheduling my events statewide, compiling press releases and doing policy work for questionnaires such as this one,” Arlett said. “This same individual was displaced from employment at the end of 2017 (unrelated to diagnosis) and this assignment has helped me tremendously over the past six months for this campaign.”

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