Gov. Scott Celebrates Record Funding for Persons with Disabilities in West Palm Beach and Jacksonville

Press Release

Today, Governor Rick Scott ceremonially signed Senate Bill 642, the Florida Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. The bill establishes a trust fund for certain people with disabilities to use for important services such as education, housing, and transportation. Governor Scott also celebrated the elimination of the APD critical needs waiting list for the second year in a row in his "KEEP FLORIDA WORKING" budget. The Governor held today's event at Gulfstream Goodwill Industries in West Palm Beach. Later today, he will be celebrating this record funding in Jacksonville.

Governor Rick Scott said, "We have made significant accomplishments to help improve the lives of individuals with disabilities in Florida by signing the ABLE Act and continuing to eliminate the entire critical needs waiting list for a second year in a row. We still have more work to do and that is why I look forward to once again recommend investments into vocational rehabilitation services to help provide job training to adults with disabilities in my proposed budget later this year."

This year's budget also includes $1 million for the Employment Enhancement Project (EEP) which better connects individuals with disabilities with possible employers and job opportunities. Governor Scott has provided a record investment of $1.2 billion for APD this year and $96 million over the past three years to help eliminate APD's critical needs waitlist.

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