ATLANTA, GA — A new bill proposed under the Gold Dome would close a loophole that allows some workers with disabilities to be paid less than minimum wage.

Only eight so-called community programs in Georgia still take advantage of the federal certificate that allows them to pay people with disabilities less than minimum wage.

Charlotte Densmore with the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities explains, “What they’re doing is they’re putting people in what they call ‘sheltered workshops’. These are segregated settings where only people with disabilities are working and they get paid what is called a ‘piece rate’.”

Some are paid as low as 22 cents an hour.

The Dignity In Pay Act would stop the practice require these programs to pay people the federal minimum wage within two years.

The bill has bipartisan support.