Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general to file a legal brief challenging a federal move to exempt the U.S. Army from a long-standing program for blind entrepreneurs. The filing in Taylor v. U.S. Department of Education argues that a December 2025 decision by the U.S. Secretary of Education unlawfully removes the priority status given to blind vendors for military dining contracts.
The program, established by the 1936 Randolph-Sheppard Act, creates a federal-state partnership where blind individuals are given priority to operate vending and food services on federal property.
In Illinois, the state licensing agency recruits and trains these vendors, using the revenue generated from those facilities to fund the program’s administration and equipment.
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The Department of Education recently granted the Army a nationwide exemption from these requirements, citing concerns over costs and isolated performance issues. This move effectively allows the military to bypass blind vendors when awarding contracts for large-scale dining facilities.
Raoul and the coalition contend that the federal government’s reasoning is flawed. They argue that the costs cited are largely set by federal procurement laws and military systems, meaning the vendors themselves have little control over those expenses. They also claim that the majority of blind-operated facilities have met military satisfaction for decades.
“This decades-long partnership has created opportunities for stable employment and promoted entrepreneurship for blind Americans,” Raoul said. “I join my colleagues in support of this legal challenge to an unlawful and overly broad exemption that would effectively remove blind vendors from consideration for military dining contracts across the country.”
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The brief further highlights that because military contracts provide critical funding for state-run blind services, losing this pipeline could destabilize the infrastructure used to support blind residents statewide. The coalition maintains that the exemption undermines the original intent of Congress to foster economic independence for the visually impaired.
Joining Illinois in this effort are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.
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