All 68 Stat. 659.

Information, eto.

Rules and regulations.

"Vocational rehabilitation services".

be provided any individual for any one course of study for a period in excess of two years; and

"(4) disseminate information as to the studies, investigations, demonstrations, and reports referred to in paragraph (1) and other matters relating to vocational rehabilitation services, and otherwise promote the cause of rehabilitation of physically handicapped individuals and their greater utilization in gainful and suitable employment.

"(b) The Secretary is authorized to make rules and regulations governing the administration of this Act, and to delegate to any officer or employee of the United States such of his powers and duties, except the making of rules and regulations, as he finds necessary in carrying out the purposes of this Act.

"PROMOTION OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

"SEC. 8. The Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall cooperate in developing, and in recommending to the appropriate State agencies, policies and procedures which will facilitate the placement in employment of handicapped individuals who have received rehabilitation services under State vocational rehabilitation programs, and, together with the chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped, shall develop and recommend methods which will assure maximum utilization of services which that committee, and cooperating State and local organizations, are able to render in promoting job opportunities for such individuals.

"REPORTS

"SEC. 9. Annual reports shall be made to the Congress by the Secretary as to the administration of this Act.

"AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION FOR ADMINISTRATION

"SEC. 10. There are hereby authorized to be included for each fiscal year in the appropriations for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare such sums as are necessary to administer the provisions of this Act.

"DEFINITIONS

"SEC. 11. For the purposes of this Act

"(a) The term 'vocational rehabilitation services' means diagnostic and related services (including transportation) incidental to the determination of eligibility for and the nature and scope of services to be provided; training, guidance and placement services for physically handicapped individuals; and, in the case of any such individual found to require financial assistance with respect thereto, after full consideration of his eligibility for any similar benefit by way of pension, compensation, and insurance, any other goods and services necessary to render such individual fit to engage in a remunerative occupation (including remunerative homebound work), including the following physical restoration and other goods and services

"(1) corrective surgery or therapeutic treatment necessary to correct or substantially modify a physical or mental condition which is stable or slowly progressive and constitutes a substantial handicap to employment, but is of such a nature that such cor

All 68 Stat. 660,

rection or modification may reasonably be expected to eliminate or substantially reduce such handicap within a reasonable length of time;

"(2) necessary hospitalization in connection with surgery or treatment specified in paragraph (1);

"(3) such prosthetic devices as are essential to obtaining or retaining employment;

"(4) maintenance, not exceeding the estimated cost of subsistence, during rehabilitation;

"(5) tools, equipment, initial stocks and supplies (including equipment and initial stocks and supplies for vending stands), books, and training materials, to any or all of which the State may retain legal title; and

"(6) transportation (except where necessary in connection with determination of eligibility or nature and scope of services) and occupational licenses.

Such term also includes

"(7) the acquisition of vending stands or other equipment and initial stocks and supplies for use by severely handicapped individuals in any type of small business the operation of which will be improved through management and supervision by the State agency; and

"(8) the establishment of public and other nonprofit rehabilitation facilities to provide services for physically handicapped individuals and the establishment of public and other nonprofit workshops for the severely handicapped.

"(b) The term 'physically handicapped individual' means any indi- "Physically vidual who is under a physical or mental disability which constitutes handicapped ina substantial handicap to employment, but which is of such a nature dividuals." that vocational rehabilitation services may reasonably be expected to

render him fit to engage in a remunerative occupation.

"(c) The term 'rehabilitation facility' means a facility operated for "Rehabilitation the primary purpose of assisting in the rehabilitation of physically facility." handicapped individuals

"(1) which provides one or more of the following types of

services:

"(A) testing, fitting, or training in the use of prosthetic

devices;

"(B) prevocational or conditioning therapy;

66

"(C) physical or occupational therapy;

"(D) adjustment training; or

"(E) evaluation or control of special disabilities; or

"(2) through which is provided an integrated program of medical, psychological, social, and vocational evaluation and services under competent professional supervision: Provided, That the major portion of such evaluation and services is furnished within the facility and that all medical and related health services are prescribed by, or are under the formal supervision of, persons licensed to practice medicine or surgery in the State.

"(d) The term 'workshop' means a place where any manufacture 'Workshop." or handiwork is carried on and which is operated for the primary purpose of providing remunerative employment to severely handicapped individuals who cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market.

"(e) The term 'nonprofit', when used with respect to a rehabilita- "Nonprofit." tion facility or a workshop, means a rehabilitation facility and a workshop, respectively, owned and operated by a corporation or association, no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and the

All 68 Stat. 661.

Establishment.

Workshop.

Rehabilitation facility.

"State."

'Allotment percentage."

"Federal share."

State population.

"Secretary."

income of which is exempt from taxation under section 101 (6) of the Internal Revenue Code.

"(f) Establishment of a workshop or rehabilitation facility

means

"(1) in the case of a workshop, the expansion, remodeling, or alteration of existing buildings, necessary to adapt such buildings to workshop purposes or to increase the employment opportunities in workshops, and the acquisition of initial equipment necessary for new workshops or to increase the employment opportunities workshops; and

in

"(2) in the case of a rehabilitation facility, the expansion, remodeling, or alteration of existing buildings, and initial equipment of such buildings, necessary to adapt such buildings to rehabilitation facility purposes or to increase their effectiveness for such purposes (subject, however, to such limitations as the Secretary may by regulations prescribe in order to prevent impairment of the objectives of, or duplication of, other Federal laws providing Federal assistance to States in the construction of such facilities) and initial staffing thereof (for a period not exceeding one year).

"(g) The term 'State' includes Alaska, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, and for purposes of section 4, includes also Guam.

"(h) (1) The 'allotment percentage' for any State shall be 100 per centum less that percentage which bears the same ratio to 50 per centum as the per capita income of such State bears to the per capita income of the continental United States (excluding Alaska), except that (A) the allotment percentage shall in no case be more than 75 per centum or less than 333 per centum, and (B) the allotment percentage for Hawaii shall be 50 per centum, and the allotment percentage for Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands shall be 75 per

centum.

"(2) The allotment percentages shall be promulgated by the Secretary between July 1 and August 31 of each even-numbered year, on the basis of the average of the per capita incomes of the States and of the continental United States for the three most recent consecutive years for which satisfactory data are available from the Department of Commerce. Such promulgation shall be conclusive for each of the two fiscal years in the period beginning July 1 next succeeding such promulgation: Provided, That the Secretary shall promulgate such percentages as soon as possible after the enactment of the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1954, which promulgation shall be conclusive for the three fiscal years in the period ending June 30, 1957.

"(i) The Federal share' for any State for any fiscal year (other than the fiscal year ending June 30, 1954) shall be 100 per centum less that percentage which bears the same ratio to 40 per centum as the per capita income of such State bears to the per capita income of the continental United States (excluding Alaska), except that (A) the Federal share shall in no case be more than 70 per centum or less than 50 per centum, and (B) the Federal share for Hawaii and Alaska shall be 60 per centum, and the Federal share for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands shall be 70 per centum. In computing the Federal share of a State for a year, the Secretary shall use the same figures for per capita incomes of the States and of the United States as he used in computing the allotment percentage of such State for such year. "(j) The population of the several States shall be determined on the basis of the latest figures furnished by the Department of Commerce. "(k) The term 'Secretary', except when the context otherwise requires, means the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

"TRANSITION PROVISIONS

All 68 Stat. 662.

"SEO. 12. (a) In the case of any State which, immediately prior to July 1, 1954, was carrying on a vocational rehabilitation program under a State plan approved under this Act, such State plan shall be deemed to be a State plan approved under section 5 of this Act until (1) the Secretary finds, after reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing to the State agency, that such plan has been so changed that it no longer complies with any provision required to be included in such plan under this Act as in effect prior to the enactment of the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1954, or in the administration of such plan there is a failure to comply substantially with any such provision, or (2) the plan is superseded by a plan approved under section 5 of this Act, or (3) July 1, 1955, whichever occurs first.

"(b) Sums appropriated for grants to States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1955, pursuant to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act in effect prior to the enactment of the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1954 (including the portion of sums made available to the Secretary for rehabilitation services in the District of Columbia) shall be deemed to have been made available for grants to States under section 2 of this Act. Payments made from such sums to a State prior to the enactment of the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1954 (including payments made from such sums before or after such enactment for vocational rehabilitation services in the District of Columbia) shall be deemed to have been paid under this Act from the State's allotment under such section 2.

"SHORT TITLE

"SEC. 13. This Act may be cited as the 'Vocational Rehabilitation Act'."

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

SEC. 3. (a) The personnel, property, and records which the Direc- Transfer to tor of the Bureau of the Budget determines relate primarily to the D. C. governprovision of vocational rehabilitation services in the District of Colum- ment.

bia or the performance of functions of a State licensing agency under

the Act of June 20, 1936 (20 U. S. C., ch. 6A), shall be transferred, 49 Stat. 1559. within ninety days after the enactment of this Act, from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to the municipal government

of the District of Columbia for use in providing such services and performing such functions in the District of Columbia.

(b) The Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized, within available appropriations and allotted funds,

to take such action as may be necessary to secure for the District of

Columbia the benefits of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, as 41 Stat. 735. amended by this Act, and the Act of June 20, 1936 (20 U. S. C., ch. 6A). 29 USC 41. (c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section 2 or any other provision of this Act, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is authorized to continue the performance of functions relating to the provision of vocational rehabilitation services in the District of Columbia and to use appropriations available therefor until completion of the transfer provided in subsection (a) in like manner as such functions were being performed and appropriations used by such Secretary immediately prior to the enactment of this Act.

All 68 Stat. 663.

Blind persons. Vending stand operation.

Concession-stand opportunities.

State licensing agenoies.

Restrictions.

29 USC 41.

29 USC 35.

HEW regulations.

20 USC 107a(b).

20 USC 107a(c).

Location and type of stand.

AMENDMENTS TO THE RANDOLPH-SHEPPARD VENDING STAND ACT

SEC. 4. (a) The first section of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize the operation of stands in Federal buildings by blind persons, to enlarge the economic opportunities of the blind, and for other purposes", approved June 20, 1936, as amended (20 U. S. C., sec. 107), is amended to read as follows: "That for the purpose of providing blind persons with remunerative employment, enlarging the economic opportunities of the blind, and stimulating the blind to greater efforts in striving to make themselves self-supporting, blind persons licensed under the provisions of this Act shall be authorized to operate vending stands on any Federal property where such vending stands may be properly and satisfactorily operated by blind persons. In authorizing the operation of vending stands on Federal property, preference shall be given, so far as feasible, to blind persons licensed by a State agency as provided in this Act; and the head of each department or agency in control of the maintenance, operation, and protection of Federal property shall, after consultation with the Secretary, and with the approval of the President, prescribe regulations designed to assure such preference (including assignment of vending machine income to achieve and protect such preference) for such licensed blind persons without unduly inconveniencing such departments and agencies or adversely affecting the interests of the United States."

(b) (1) Section 2 (a) of such Act of June 20, 1936, as amended (20 U. S. C., sec. 107a), is amended by striking out "in Federal and other buildings" where it appears in paragraph (1) and inserting in lieu thereof "on Federal and other property", and by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows:

"(4) Designate as provided in section 3 of this Act the State commission for the blind in each State, or, in any State in which there is no such commission, some other public agency to issue licenses to blind persons who are citizens of the United States and at least twenty-one years of age for the operating of vending stands on Federal and other property in such State for the vending of newspapers, periodicals, confections, tobacco products, articles dispensed automatically or in containers or wrapping in which they are placed before receipt by the vending stand, and such other articles as may be approved for each property by the department or agency in control of the maintenance, operation, and protection thereof and the State licensing agency in accordance with the regulations prescribed pursuant to the first section: Provided, That (A) effective four years after the enactment of the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1954, in any State having an approved plan for vocational rehabilitation pursuant to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, the licensing agency to be designated hereunder shall be the State agency designated pursuant to section 5 (a) (1) of such Act as the sole State agency with respect to vocational rehabilitation of the blind; and (B) prior to such time, no license shall be granted except upon certification by a vocational rehabilitation agency that the individual is qualified to operate a vending stand." (2) Paragraph (5) of such subsection is amended by inserting ", including the issuance of rules and regulations," after "steps". (c) Section 2 (b) of such Act of June 20, 1936, as amended, is amended by striking out the third sentence thereof.

66

(d) Section 2 (c) of such Act of June 20, 1936, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"(c) The State licensing agency designated by the Secretary is authorized, with the approval of the head of the department or agency in control of the maintenance, operation, and protection of the Federal property on which the stand is to be located but subject to regulations