[blindlaw] Update of the TEACH Act

Blake, Lou Ann LBlake at nfb.org
Wed Oct 29 19:39:04 UTC 2014


My colleague at the NFB, Lauren McLarney, handles the TEACH Act for our Advocacy and Policy department. Here is what Lauren has to say:
It simply takes a long time to pass a bill. The statement that Congress is against the TEACH Act is not accurate. We have a lot of support in Congress from both sides of the aisle and from important people on the Senate committee.  However, stand-alone bills rarely move, so the TEACH Act only has a hope of passing if it gets roped into a large vehicle and/or is so non-controversial that it can go on the suspension calendar.  The higher ed lobby has problems with it, and so it is not controversy-free enough for the suspension calendar, and although it did indeed get roped into a larger vehicle earlier this year, that vehicle does not have enough time to pass.  Therefore, it is unlikely the bill, or the larger vehicle, will pass this Congress during the lame duck. We are definitely still going to keep pushing, though. Rest assured.  Charles Krugman's suggestion to contact your local Member of Congress is indeed the best way to put that pressure out there, specifically by convincing Republican members of the House to disregard the school's objections.  We will be working in the background to address those concerns, and would like to go into next Congress with a lot of momentum. Another option to put pressure on Congress to do something during the lame duck is to strategize about how to move the larger vehicle in the Senate. However, this depends on the outcome of the elections, and so it's too soon to say how this action item should look.

Everyone should know that the TEACH Act has a lot of support in Congress, and has 20 different endorsing groups. But getting Republicans to overlook the schools objections while we simultaneously try to assuage those objections is a big obstacle right now. Moreover, bills only really move in the two ways I said, and that can take a long time. We are simply short on time this Congress, especially when the Congress has moved as slow as this one has.  


-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Olusegun -- Victory Associates LTD, Inc. via blindlaw
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 10:00 AM
To: Kirt; Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Update of the TEACH Act

Congress does nothing, whether in lame duck or full session.  But let's not turn off the waterboarding pressure!

Sincerely,
Olusegun
Denver, Colorado 


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