[Colorado-Talk] HB21-1110 Needs Your Action Now!

[Dan Burke]

Good afternoon –

We need calls and emails to the members of the state Senate
Appropriations Committee this weekend, and we need lots of them.

HB21-1110, Colorado Laws for Persons with Disabilities was not passed
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday. Unexpectedly, it was
“laid over” by the committee. That means it is in limbo, but all to
likely it could be dead, and it appears for lack of $331,000 in
funding. (Previously, I said the amount was just over $600,00, but
that was incorrect. It isn’t even that much!)

Our friends at the Colorado Cross-disability Coalition (CCDC) have
been skillfully shepherding this bill through the legislature,
obviously with strong support and testimony from the NFB of Colorado
and many other disability organizations in the state. CCDC’s Executive
Director Julie Reiskin on Friday put out a call to action to save this
legislation. Here’s part of what she said:

“Suddenly HB 21-1110 was laid over.   Apparently, they have already
spent the $48 million for legislative priorities that we were supposed
to be part of...I am not sure what the answer is but this is not
acceptable.   They did not even tell our sponsor!!    PLEASE GET THIS
ALERT OUT FAR AND WIDE IMMEDIATELY... it is less than $350,000 in a
year where they are spending on all kinds of stuff.”

The House sponsor is Rep. David Ortiz, but now it’s in the Senate and
our long-time ally Senator Jessie Danielson is carrying the bill.

And just think of all the stimulus money the state is about to spend.
And our legislature can’t scrape up $331,000 to fund our access to our
government?

This bill brings Colorado’s anti-discrimination Act (CADA) in line
with that part of the ADA that addresses the responsibilities of state
and local governments to comply with the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA). Doing so would eliminate conflict and confusion with state
law and, if a Coloradan with a disability needs to file a
discrimination lawsuit, they can go to the state courts rather than
the federal courts – a process that would be cheaper and faster for
all involved, hypothetically at least.

But as we’ve discussed here before, this legislation also calls on
state and local governments to ensure accessibility in web sites and
electronic documents and forms -indeed all information available
electronically – and it tells them what standards to follow. This is
exactly what we’ve been working toward on the national level as well,
so it shouldn’t be a surprise that our President, Scott LaBarre wanted
these provisions included in HB21-1110. The biggest part of the
$331,000 goes to the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to do the
work of reviewing web sites, training web managers on accessibility,
etc. It’s very clear that this will benefit blind Coloradans the most,
so we really need to step up now to help get this through.

What we want to say is simple:

This is Dan Burke. I live in Centennial and I’m a member of the NFB of
Colorado. The NFB of Colorado wants you to fully fund HB21-1110. We
have a right to access information from state and local governments,
and sometimes it is a matter of life and death. This is the right way
to use taxpayers’ dollars effectively instead of waiting for
litigation - something no one wants to do.  Please act now!

Below are some more points to consider mentioning when you call or
write, borrowed from Julie Reiskin’s email:

. *	Coloradans with disabilities are 10% of the voters!, and we have a
right to full access to government, Including   emergency information,
sign up to get a vaccine, and know what activities our local library
is holding.
*	This bill will help state and LOCAL government COMPLY.  If we do not
get this our only choice is to litigate in federal court.  One or two
cases will take more than the cost of HB21-1110 in attorney fees
alone.
*	Failure to fund this bill puts the risk on small local governments
and special districts because they were going to get the OIT support.

Here are the Senate Appropriations Committee Members:

Chair Chris Hansen
303-866-4861
chris.hansen.senate at state.co.us

Vice Chair Dominick Moreno
303-866-4857
dominick.moreno.senate at state.co.us

Senator James Coleman
303-866-4864
james.coleman.senate at state.co.us

Senator Bob Gardner  (already voted yes in the Judiciary committee)
303-866-4880
bob.gardner.senate at state.co.us

Senator Julie Gonzales already voted yes in the Judiciary committee)
303-866-4862
julie.gonzales.senate at state.co.us  (

Senator Bob Rankin
303-866-5292
bob.rankin.senate at state.co.us

Senator Jerry Sonnenberg
303-866-6360
jerry.sonnenberg.senate at state.co.us



-- 
Dan Burke

National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Legislative Co-chair

President, NFB of Denver

"Blindness is not what holds you back.  You can live the life you want!"

My Cell:  406.546.8546
Twitter:  @DallDonal