Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act
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The Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act or JWOD, et seq., is a U.S. federal law mandating that all Federal agencies purchase specified supplies and services from nonprofit agencies employing blind persons or others with severe disabilities. The Act was passed by the 92nd United States Congress in 1971; it is named after Senator Jacob K. Javits, who led efforts to expand the Wagner-O'Day Act of 1938, named after Senator Robert F. Wagner and Congresswoman Caroline O'Day.[1].
Senator Javits led the efforts to expand the older law, which applied only to blind persons, and covered supplies but not services. The effort succeeded in spite of objections raised by organizations representing the blind, as expressed for example in Resolution 68-04[2] passed in 1968 by the American Council of the Blind.
The Federal agency charged with administering the program is currently known as the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled. It replaced the Committee on Purchases of Blind Made Products established by the 1938 act. The agency decides which commodities and services the government should purchase under the JWOD Act. The program it oversees, known for over three decades as the JWOD Program, was renamed "AbilityOne" by Congress in 2006.[3]
