[Central-md-chapter] Action Needed

[brenda mueller]

Years ago I worked in and directed a university language lab. in 
Pennsylvania.  My duties included setting up tapes for incoming 
language students to use in the lab., updating the language lab. 
collection, producing language tapes for those students who 
wanted them, and tutoring students in all levels of Spanish, 
German one through four, and French one and two.  I was working 
under a Federal program, but I've forgotten what it was called.  
Under me were several people who worked under Work Study.  Now, 
here's the trick.  There was a little law that wasn't well 
publicized.  This law had a cut-off built into it.  Yes, minimum 
wage should be paid, however if the employee worked for under 38 
hours a week, there was a clause that allowed the employer to pay 
less.  Consequently, I was allowed to work only 37.5 hours a 
week.  Now it wouldn't surprise me in the least if such a dirty 
little cut-off law is used in Maryland.  It would allow our 
proposed law to be passed, but business would go on as usual.  If 
our law protected the blind and no one else from this cut-off, 
then ask yourself this.  If you were an employer who knew about 
this cut-off law, that makes hiring everyone else so much 
cheaper, were our proposed law passed, why hire the blind at all? 
We may need to do some more homework and get rid of that hidden 
cut-off, before we pass our law.  If I'm correct that, that 
cut-off still exists, then we could unintentionally be doing more 
harm than good.  Of course, I want blind people to have jobs and 
at least minimum wage, but I know one thing.  Government loves to 
enforce laws for everyone else, but it has scores of lawyers to 
enable it to find little known laws with loop holes and avoid 
obeying the law itself.
There's my warning to consider; our proposed law will not resolve 
the problem, if that cut-off exists; we have to get rid of the 
cut-off.  As is, as you can clearly see, our law may create 
another problem.


Brenda Mueller
> ----- Original Message -----
>From: nfbmd via Central-md-chapter <central-md-chapter at nfbnet.org
>To: "'Greater Baltimore'" <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org>,"'Sligo 
Creek Chapter list, NFB of Maryland'" 
<md-sligo at nfbnet.org>,<nationalharbor at nfbnet.org>, 
<MD-atlarge at nfbnet.org>,"'Central Maryland Chapter List'" 
<central-md-chapter at nfbnet.org>,<nfbmdtlc-chapter at nfbnet.org>,"'M
aryland Parents of Blind Children List'" 
<mdpobc at nfbnet.org>,<mdabs at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Thu, 10 Sep 2015 09:42:25 -0400
>Subject: [Central-md-chapter] Action Needed

>Hello All,

>Please read Hindley Williams' message below and take action. 
Since you are
>getting this message  little late, please work on this today, 
tomorrow, or
>Monday at the latest. Thanks in advance for your efforts. If you 
get a
>response, send a note off list to jesse.hartle63 at gmail.com
><mailto:jesse.hartle63 at gmail.com> .

>Good Morning Fellow Federationists,

>As you may have heard, the TIME Act is gaining more traction than 
ever  in
>Congress, but there is still much work to be done. As 
Marylanders,  we can
>do our part to see that this bill becomes law by reaching out  to 
our
>members of Congress and urging them to pass this bill.

>Throughout this week, I encourage you to send emails to the 
members of
>Congress of Maryland -- one email to the member of the House of
>Representatives in the district that you live in, and two emails 
to  the
>Senators. Below, I have listed the contact information for some 
of  the
>staffers on the Hill, and two email templates for the House and  
Senate if
>you need these resources to send out your emails. Also, you will 
notice in
>the templates that the staffers may direct some questions to you 
if they
>have any. If they ask you a question that you are unsure of, you 
can direct
>the questions to Rose Sloan at rsloan at nfb.org 
<mailto:rsloan at nfb.org> .



>Here is the template for the House of Representatives:

>Dear (first name of the staffer you are contacting):

>My name is (your name), and I am writing to inform you about 
issues  that
>are a concern to blind Marylanders. Currently, individuals with
>disabilities across the country are being paid subminimum wages, 
which  is
>an antiquated practice that does not allow these individuals to  
reach their
>full potential in the workplace. The Transitioning to  Integrated 
and
>Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act responsibly phases out  section 
14(c) of
>the Fair Labor Standards Act, the provision that  makes this 
practice legal
>for Special Wage Certificate holders. I ask  that you please 
share this
>information with (Member of Congress'

>name), because I am a constituent and this issue is important to 
me.

>To cosponsor the TIME Act (HR 188) in the House of 
Representatives,

>contact:

>Scot Malvaney, Policy Director, Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS)

>Phone: (202) 225-5031, Email: Scot.Malvaney at mail.house.gov
><mailto:Scot.Malvaney at mail.house.gov> .

>If you have any questions, please feel free to direct them to me.

>Thank you for your time.

>Best Regards,

>(Your Name)



>Here is the template for the Senate:

>Dear (first name of the staffer you are contacting):

>My name is (your name), and I am writing to inform you about 
issues  that
>are a concern to blind Marylanders. Currently, individuals with
>disabilities across the country are being paid subminimum wages, 
which  is
>an antiquated practice that does not allow these individuals to  
reach their
>full potential in the workplace. The Transitioning to  Integrated 
and
>Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act responsibly phases out  section 
14(c) of
>the Fair Labor Standards Act, the provision that  makes this 
practice legal
>for Special Wage Certificate holders. I ask  that you please 
share this
>information with (Senator's name), because  this issue is 
important to me as
>a Maryland resident. To cosponsor the  TIME Act (S 2001) in the 
Senate,
>contact:

>Dan Auger, Legislative Assistant, Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)

>Phone: (202) 224-3324, Email: Daniel_Auger at Ayotte.senate.gov
><mailto:Daniel_Auger at Ayotte.senate.gov>   If you have any 
questions, please
>feel free to direct them to me.

>Thank you for your time.

>Best Regards,

>(Your First name)



>Here is the contact information for the House of Representatives  
(choose
>the one in which you are a constituent):

>1. office of Andy Harris: contact John Dutton at 
john.dutton at mail.house.gov
><mailto:john.dutton at mail.house.gov>   2. office of Ruppersberger, 
Dutch:
>contact Deborah Haynie at Deborah.haynie at mail.house.gov
><mailto:Deborah.haynie at mail.house.gov>   3. office of Sarbanes, 
John:
>contact Bvora Lovinger at dvora.lovinger at mail.house.gov
><mailto:dvora.lovinger at mail.house.gov>   4. office of Edwards, 
Donna:
>contact Anne Nelson at anne.nelson at mail.house.gov
><mailto:anne.nelson at mail.house.gov>   5. office of Hoyer, Steny: 
contact
>Rachel Snyder at Rachel.snyder at mail.house.gov
><mailto:Rachel.snyder at mail.house.gov>   6. office of Delaney, 
John: contact
>Lauren Santabar at lauren.santabar at mail.house.gov
><mailto:lauren.santabar at mail.house.gov>   7. office of Cummings, 
Elijah:
>Contact Jimmy Fremgen at jimmy.fremgen at mail.house.gov
><mailto:jimmy.fremgen at mail.house.gov



>Here is the contact for the two office in the Senate (feel free 
to  contact
>both of these):

>1. office of Ben Cardin: contact Gray Maxwell at
>Gray_Maxwell at cardin.senate.gov 
<mailto:Gray_Maxwell at cardin.senate.gov>   2.
>office of Barbara Mikulski: contact Aaron Edelman
>aaron_edelman at mikulski.senate.gov 
<mailto:aaron_edelman at mikulski.senate.gov
>Let's take the next few days to get these emails to our Members 
of  Congress
>so that we can get this bill passed! If you have any  questions, 
you can
>email me at hbwilliams16 at gmail.com 
<mailto:hbwilliams16 at gmail.com> . Thank
>you!

>Best,

>Hindley





>Sharon Maneki, President

>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland

>410-715-9596