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John here. I have a lot to tell you.
This weekend I am heading to Utica in upstate New York for the New York Special Olympics State Games. I am riding the bus with my teammates, and that is always fun because we laugh so much. I will run the 100-meter dash, the 4x100 relay, and throw the javelin. I hope to bring home some medals.
But before I left for Utica, my Dad and I had an important stop to make.
This week, my Dad and I went to Washington, DC, with the CEO Commission for Disability Employment. We met with members of Congress and their staff to advocate for people with differing abilities.
We focused on three things that would make a real difference:
End the subminimum wage. Right now, employers can legally pay people with disabilities as little as five cents an hour. That is wrong and it needs to stop.
Raise the SSI asset limit. Congress set the limit at $2,000 in 1984 and has not touched it since. That means people with differing abilities cannot save for a vacation or put money aside for a rainy day. And there is a marriage penalty: a married couple should
have a combined cap of $4,000, but the actual cap is only $3,000. That is anti-family and it has to change.
Track entrepreneurship by people with differing abilities. We know entrepreneurs with differing abilities face real hardships like a lack of programs, a lack of financing. But we need data so we can attack the problem the right way. We are asking the Small Business Administration to start keeping track.
People listen to me because of John's Crazy Socks. That means I need to speak up for people with differing abilities who don't always have the same platform I do.
When you buy our socks, you make all of this possible. You help us raise money for Special Olympics. You make it possible for me to go to Capitol Hill and speak to Congress.
I am so grateful for your support. Because of you, we can do all of this. Let's keep going.
John Cronin
Co-Founder & Chief Happiness Officer
John’s Crazy Socks
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