WHEREAS, workplaces across our state that are welcoming the diversity of all people, including people with disabilities, are critical to an inclusive community and a healthy economy; and

WHEREAS, people with disabilities were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, but contributed significantly as essential workers and whose talents continue to be needed as Maine moves beyond the pandemic; and

WHEREAS, while the employment rate of persons with disabilities in Maine has improved, at over 37 percent it is less than half the employment rate for Maine people without disabilities; and

WHEREAS, it is critically important that the state of Maine prepares all youth, including those with disabilities, for meaningful careers – including those in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields - and an adulthood that includes employment; and

WHEREAS, Maine is an Employment First state, which requires that state agencies providing services to people with disabilities, including those with autism, intellectual/developmental, behavioral health, blindness and other sensory needs, offer employment as the first and preferred service option; and

WHEREAS, by prohibiting the use of sub-minimum wages for individuals with disabilities, Maine is a national leader with a demonstrated strong commitment to fair and equal labor standards; and

WHEREAS, through recognizing Disability Employment Awareness Month, we reinforce the value and talent that people with disabilities add to our workplaces and communities, as well as the power that inclusion brings to our nation’s unity;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the great State of Maine, do hereby proclaim the month of October 2022 as

Disability Employment Awareness Month

throughout the State of Maine and I urge all citizens to recognize this observance.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this twelfth day of October Two Thousand Twenty-Two