Dayton Aims to Increase State’s Disabled Workforce

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - More workers with disabilities may find jobs with Minnesota under a new order from Gov. Mark Dayton.

Dayton's executive order this week directs state agencies to hire more employees with disabilities. It seeks to halt a drop in the state's disabled workforce - just 3.2 percent of the state's employees in 2013 were people with disabilities. The governor's order aims to double that to 7 percent by 2018. It also mandates training for some state workers for recruiting employees with disabilities.

Alan Parnes, a member of the Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans, tells reporters he hopes Dayton's move will influence companies to hire more employees with disabilities.

The federal government and at least six other states have taken similar steps.