Paying low wages to people with disabilities is no longer allowed in Seattle. Seattle officials have eliminated what's known as the subminimum wage, becoming one of the first cities in the nation to do so.

Since 1938 the U.S. Department of Labor has allowed certain employers to pay people with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage ($7.25 in 2018).

The Seattle City Council voted April 2 to prohibit subminimum wages by any employer in the city, and today Mayor Jenny Durkan signed it into law. The ban will go into effect May 13.

Marcie Carpenter at the National Federation of the Blind, Washington, testified to the City Council earlier this month that it was time to pay all workers the minimum wage.

"These kinds of laws were based on a 1930s mentality of disability: low expectations, few people were educated and even fewer people worked," Carpenter said.