Randolph-Sheppard Act
I would like to let people know about the opportunity of the Randolph-Sheppard Act. It provides a great program that is the Business Enterprise Program (BEP). If you are blind and interested in become a licensed vendor please contact your State License Agency (SLA). This website provides a list of all the BEP SLA's in the United States. Please click here. When you get to the web page select your state. Another good website is National Association of Blind Merchants Website, click here to visit the website.
On this webpage you will become familiarized with the Randolph-Sheppard Act. You will read the history, creation, development and what Randolph-Sheppard Act is all about.
If you follow the following link you will find the section of the Code of Federal Regulations that regulates the Randolph-Sheppard Act. If you are interested in learning the regulations and codes of the Randolph-Sheppard Act please click here.
The Randolph-Sheppard Act is the most significant piece of federal legislation mandating that priority be given to licensed blind entrepreneurs to run vending facilities on federal properties throughout the United States. The legislation was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1936. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill into law on June 20, 1936. Since the Randolph-Sheppard Act was made law, it has been amended twice: once in 1954 and again in 1974. Today, almost every state has its version of the Randolph-Sheppard Act, often referred to as “mini” Randolph-Sheppard acts, which expand licensed blind entrepreneur priorities in state buildings as well.
Although this legislation was historic, the pilgrimage to achieve it took over five years to produce. It was not an easy process, and one man in particular, Leonard A. Robinson, took on this challenge from the act’s creation to its legislation. Spending five years of his life researching, developing, and creating the Randolph-Sheppard Act, Robinson traveled more than 25,000 miles. During this campaign, he met with and lobbied congressmen, and labor, political, and blind organizations. Robinson was inspired by a Canadian vending stand program for people who are blind and two congressmen who tried to pass similar legislation that failed in the United States. Robinson was determined to create better opportunities for people who are blind and unemployed and did all this at his “own expense, except in a very few instances.”
At the end of this journey, Robinson wrote a book called Light at the Tunnel End. The book served to outline the various sections of the Randolph-Sheppard bill and how they were developed into its final legislation. The book also served to chronicle Robinson’s life and how he became involved in overcoming the various obstacles and organizations preventing this legislation from passing Congress.
Robinson, the youngest of five children born in Knoxville, Tennessee, led what he referred to as a happy life. Then at the age of 7 Robinson was shot in the eye by a friend using a BB rifle. The BB came within an inch of his brain, and Robinson had to go into emergency surgery to have his eye removed and replaced with an artificial eye for “cosmetic effect.” Soon after the operation, Robinson was able to continue with his daily routine and as he recalls he didn’t feel handicapped by the incident.
Then at the age of 11, he suffered another tragic accident. This time he was hit just above his good eye with a rock by a friend while playing. Within six months, Robinson’s retina became detached and after several surgeries, Robinson became blind. Robinson later recalled that the doctor performing a crucial surgery asked him what he would do if the operation wasn’t successful; Robinson told the doctor that regardless of the outcome that he was going to “take up law” because he felt that he could be of “greater service to society” by becoming a lawyer. After two years of unsuccessful treatments and surgeries, Robinson decided to make the best of his situation and move on with his life.
At 17, Robinson applied and was accepted to the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind. After having been out of school for six years, he learned to read braille quickly. He graduated from the institute and applied to college at the University of Tennessee in 1924. At the university, he enlisted the services of a reader and graduated college and finished one year of law school in three years.
By the fall of 1929, Robinson had earned his law degree from the Western Reserve University Law School in Cleveland and subsequently passed the Ohio Bar and began practicing law. Robinson opened his practice during the Great Depression.
During the early years of his practice, Robinson met up with fellow “blind men and women who sought advice with reference to their own employment problems.” Robinson recalls “that their greatest handicap was not their lack of sight, but rather it was the misunderstanding employers had of the capabilities of blind persons.” Robinson also recalled the feeling he had when graduating from the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind,
"Little did we know of that world of darkness which surrounded us. Being without sight and with very little contact, if any at all, with the business world, we had no idea of the frustrations and disappointments blind persons were encountering in the day-to-day struggle for a living."
These experiences deeply concerned Robinson but also served to spur him to help find and develop better employment opportunities for the blind community.
In March of 1931, Robinson read an editorial in the Braille Mirror that troubled him. The editorial commented on a 1929 bill that would authorize the establishment of news, candy, and refreshment stands in federal buildings to be operated by blind operators. The bill called for a “Bureau for the Blind” to be set up in the Department of Labor. The bureau would run the program. The name of the bill was the Schall bill named after the blind senator Thomas Schall of Minnesota, who sponsored the legislation.
The bill failed because it didn’t receive enough support from organized agencies representing the people who are blind. The American Foundation for the Blind in New York, for instance, felt the bill was unimportant. Robinson was confused by this and wanted to find out why these agencies wouldn’t support such legislation. To him this type of legislation could be groundbreaking for blind entrepreneurs by providing good employment opportunities.
In April of 1931, Robinson attended the World Conference on Work for the Blind held in New York City as a representative of the Cleveland Chapter of the Welfare Sightless Association. During the conference, Robinson attended a session held by Joseph F. Clunk, who represented the Canadian National Institute for the Blind of Toronto. Clunk spoke about a program that the Canadian government ran where blind operators managed vending stands in federal buildings. Clunk said that the operators were well trained and very efficient. He said that the program was well supported and very successful in Canada.
After the session was over, Robinson approached Clunk to discuss why the Schall bill failed in the United States. Clunk suggested that a program like the Canadian blind vending program would easily have become a success in the United States. Citing Pennsylvania as one example, Clunk said that there would be hundreds of government opportunities for blind operators in the state all within close proximity of each other, making it easier to manage. In contrast, there are great distances between the vending opportunities in Canada, making it more difficult to manage. Even though this was the case in Canada, the program was still successful. Clunk pondered how much more successful a program like the Canadian program would be in the United States. The conversation inspired both men, and they became friends instantly.
As it turned out, Clunk too had lived in Cleveland before moving to Canada. Clunk taught himself to travel independently after becoming totally blind at the age of 21. He made a living as a door-to-door salesman before becoming a job placement specialist in 1925. Clunk specialized in finding appropriate factory jobs for Cleveland clients who were blind. He did this by demonstrating for factory supervisors that he could do various jobs in their factories with great proficiency. Once the factory supervisors witnessed Clunk’s performance, they were convinced that blind individuals could perform the jobs Clunk demonstrated. These supervisors would then hire Clunk’s clients, provided they performed these jobs “satisfactorily.” In 1928, Clunk applied for a position as a job placement specialist in Canada. He was hired and moved to Canada.
As both Robinson and Clunk left the conference, Robinson told Clunk he was going to Washington to meet Senator Schall before returning home to Cleveland to discuss his bill. Before leaving the conference, Clunk agreed to write a letter outlining the Canadian vending program, which Robinson would use as proof to the people he lobbied that a program like this was already successful elsewhere.
In 1932, Robinson met with then president-elect, Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the idea of creating legislation for a blind vending program, like the one in Canada, in the United States. Roosevelt was very supportive and even went so far as to “promise” that if legislation hadn’t pass by the time he became president, he would “move” to approve such legislation. Robinson was very optimistic with the president-elect’s support, but he was still concerned by the lack of support such a bill drew from important organizations for people who are blind.
During the World Conference on Work for the Blind in 1931, Robinson met another vending stand program advocate, blind representative Matthew A. Dunn of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Like Schall before him, Dunn sponsored another vending bill, H.R. 5694, to create “a Bureau of the Blind in the Post Office Department, to provide for the issuing of licenses to blind persons to operate stands in federal buildings.” Again, the proposed vending bill was defeated in early 1934, lacking the necessary support from organized blind groups. This defeat further concerned Robinson. One “professional worker for the blind” claimed that such legislation would be “unconstitutional.” As discouraging as correspondences like these were, Robinson regrouped and decided to take a different approach.
It was at this point that Robinson realized he needed to change his strategy to involve more lobbying. Although the vending bills were making it to Congress, they were lacking the needed support to prove their worth once they came to a vote.
Robinson decided to lobby politically, socially, and in particular to various organizations for people who are blind before trying to make a run at legislation again. He could use Clunk’s letter of reference as proof that such a program could work if it became law. Robinson went to work and began his lobbying efforts with the American Newspaper Guild, the American Federation of Labor, the veterans, and various organizations for people who are blind. The more Robinson lobbied, the more the support grew. With support for the vending bill at an all-time high, Robinson needed to find a politician to help him present the legislation to Congress.
During a Lions Club meeting, one of Robinson’s associates suggested that he go to the International Lions Club Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Representative Jennings Randolph of West Virginia was supposed to be in attendance. Robinson traveled to the Lions Club Convention in St. Louis where he was introduced to Congressman Randolph. After they talked for over an hour, Randolph expressed interest in sponsoring a new legislative bill if Robinson wrote the document.
In December of 1934, Robinson went to Washington to work with one of the legislative counselors to officially draft the bill. It then took 10 two-hour daily meetings to complete the bill. Once finished, it was presented to Jennings Randolph to submit to the House of Representatives. In January of 1935, the bill, known as H.R. 4688, went to the House for a vote. Shortly after its presentation to the House, the bill passed.
Now that the bill passed in the House, Randolph needed a senator to sponsor a companion Senate bill before it could be made into law. Robinson’s lobbying efforts paid off as members of the American Federation of Labor approached Texas senator Morris Sheppard about having him sponsor the Senate version of the bill, and he agreed. The Senate bill became known as Senate Bill 2196, and later the two bills together were referred as the Randolph-Sheppard Bill.
During their careers, both congressmen traveled different paths but would both make history in sponsoring this legislation. It took Randolph two tries to become a representative, but once elected, he served from 1933 to 1946. Although Randolph lost his seat in 1946, he was instrumental in the passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the national voting age to 18, as well as the Randolph-Sheppard Act. Randolph later became a senator in 1958 and served until 1985.
Sheppard, a lawyer, served in the House of Representatives from 1902 to 1913, taking over the seat for his father. After finishing his service in the House of Representatives, Sheppard went on to become a senator and served until his death in 1941. Sheppard was known as the sponsor of a bill that supported prohibition, as well as of the Randolph-Sheppard Act. Some consider the Randolph-Sheppard Act as a starting point for future affirmative action laws.
Although the journey of this legislation was almost complete, the Senate version of the bill met with opposition. At one time, it was tabled and wasn’t revisited until March of 1936. There was also resistance from the Bureau of the Budget with the Senate version of the bill, because the director of the bureau didn’t want the federal government to pay for vending stand equipment. He wanted individual state programs to purchase the necessary equipment. This concession was finally agreed to. The Randolph-Sheppard Bill was passed and then signed into law by President Roosevelt on June 20, 1936. It then became the Randolph-Sheppard Act.
The struggle wasn’t over. There were still significant obstacles to deal with while implementing the act on a state level. The House-Senate compromise to take out the purchase of equipment would certainly affect the Randolph-Sheppard Program’s implementation and growth. States would be left with the burden of supplying equipment and inventory to blind vendors in their respective states. The issue was the lack of organized support for blind services nationally as well as at the state level when the Randolph-Sheppard Act became law. Each state’s funding for blind services was inconsistent at best. This would certainly have an impact on the program’s state and national growth and development.
There was question of who would head up the Randolph-Sheppard national program. Fortunately, this was answered when Joseph Clunk accepted the position in July of 1937. This was a good fit for two reasons. First, Clunk was close to Robinson and knew as much about the act as anyone. Second, Clunk knew about the organizational structure and how to successfully run such a program because he had a great deal of experience working with one in Canada.
Once appointed to this position, Clunk began his work in Washington, DC. Initial funding for equipment was given by the Washington Society for the Blind. Once stands were in place and operational, Clunk implemented a 6 percent fee to blind vendors on the gross sale of their merchandise in exchange for
vending stand equipment and accessories, together with an initial stock of merchandise. Vendors would also receive whatever supervisory assistance he would require with day-to-day services to the extent necessary to make his vending stand operation produce the maximum return possible.
This fee was instrumental to the program’s success due to the lack of available federal-state funding.
In the background of the Randolph-Sheppard Act development and implementation was the growth and development of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program. The roots of VR can be traced back to World War I. In 1916, the National Defense Act was established. It was the first time that legislation was enacted to fund vocational education for injured soldiers returning home from a war.
Soldiers who were injured in World War I had greater survival rates than ever before because of the development of modern medicine. In 1917, the Smith-Hughes Act established a federal-state program for disabled veterans. Then in 1918, the Smith-Sears Veterans Rehabilitation Act expanded the funding of the Smith-Hughes Act. These programs were considered a new form of support for disabled soldiers. They provided training opportunities to these soldiers to help them develop new vocations so they could earn their living.
In 1920, the Smith-Fess Act was established into legislation. The Smith-Fess Act was considered the starting point of “public rehabilitation” for civilians with disabilities. The act provided funding on a fifty-fifty federal-state match for “client counseling, training, prostheses and placement services.” To qualify for these matches, states had to
The federal government, however, did not make these matching funds permanent. This act had to be renewed periodically, and Congress had to vote to renew them. Every time the act came up for a vote, it was approved by Congress. As progressive as this Smith-Fess vocational rehabilitation act was, blindness was not eligible for vocational services.
In 1935, the Social Security Act was enacted to serve as an “income maintenance program” for those where were unable to work. The Social Security Act made the federal vocational rehabilitation program permanent and increased the scope of federal financial support.
All of these pieces of legislation were significant because they paved the way for the Barden-LaFollette Act of 1943. This act “radically changed the Vocational Rehabilitation concept in terms of authorized services and what clients were eligible for service.” Robinson noted that this legislation was the “Magna Carta legislation” for people who were blind because they were now finally eligible for vocational rehabilitation services. The Barden-LaFollette Act also authorized this legislation to be used for blind clients in pursuit of Randolph-Sheppard vocations. This legislation enabled states to expand their vending stand programs under the “tools and equipment” provision of the amendment. This provision provided for vending stand equipment and the initial stock to be provided for Randolph-Sheppard clients. As a result, the program flourished and grew quickly as many opportunities developed.
Some of the more prominent locations in the program are:
The national Randolph-Sheppard program is managed by the Secretary of Education through the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration. This is accomplished by using the Code of Federal Regulations to both administer and enforce the act through each participating state’s state licensing agency (SLA). This SLA also has to manage its own state’s priority on state property as well through a “mini” Randolph-Sheppard act. This is an important point because the SLA has two program goals inside their jurisdiction: federal and state program management. This is why is important to contact your SLA if you are wanting to pursue becoming a Licensed Blind Vendor.