[CT-NFB] BESB budget

Wed Feb 22 19:34:08 UTC 2023

Dear NFBCT Members,

Please see the information Nathanael has provided regarding writing to your
local politicians and signing up to testify for an Appropriation Committee
Hearing on March 1st. We are also having a zoom meeting tomorrow night to
answer any questions you may have on this subject. Let's all pitch in and
get for increased financial aid needed for adult services!

SUBJECT: Please Write Your Legislators in Support of BESB Funding and Plan
to Attend a Legislative Hearing

Fellow Listers:

Our state legislature is right now working on the state budget, and that
includes funding for The Department of Aging and Disability Services and its
Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB). As so many of you
know, funding for adult services-the funding for blind adults who are
seniors or are not planning to return to work-has been pitiful. There are
very few resources for access technology, access technology training (to,
say, use the Internet), and cane travel. This pitiful funding will not
change unless we speak out. That includes you!

You can do two things: 1) write your legislators and 2) plan to attend a
public hearing on Wednesday, March 1 at 12:30 P.M. (either in person or over
Zoom). Please read below for details.

1.	We ask you to write your individual state assembly representative
and senator and ask that funding be restored to historically higher levels:
following cuts of over 60% since 2009-and further adjust for inflation. You
can find contact information for your legislators by going to:

https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/cgafindleg.asp

and selecting (where you are registered to vote or, if not registered to
vote, your residence) your town, then street, then house number. Your e-mail
or letter should include your address and could say:

***

[Your address]

Dear Senator/Assembly Representative ___:

As a constituent, I write to you to ask that state funding for the
Department of Aging and Disability Services, Bureau of Education and
Services for the Blind line item for Supplementary Relief and Services,
often referred to as "adult services", be restored to historically higher
levels and adjusted for inflation, other economic factors, and the
increasing elderly population. In 2022, Connecticut spent only $44,847 on
services to this population (along with additional minimal Federal funding).
However, in 2008 and 2009, the amount of funding provided by the state was
$115,425, meaning that funding has been cut by over 60%. It is inconceivable
that the population of aging residents experiencing vision loss has
decreased by over 60% since 2009. Rather, our experience shows that it is
only increasing.

Consumers of adult services programs can only receive at best cursory
services under this program. Additional funding could, for example, be well
used to provide training in using assistive technology to access the
Internet (for things such as grocery and pharmacy delivery services,
banking, and accessing transportation). It could also be well used to
provide cane travel instruction so that blind seniors can be confident
traveling around their communities and prepare to, if they so choose,
receive a guide dog.

[Add in your own personal story of no or limited services or that of a blind
senior.]

Please ask the Appropriations Committee to restore and adequately increase
this needed funding. And please vote only for a state budget that does so.

Restoring and adequately increasing funding for adult services will enable
the increasing population of blind seniors losing their vision to fully live
the lives they want with a greater level of independence and dignity. As a
constituent, I look forward to your response and action.

[Your signature]

***

2.	Next, plan to attend a public hearing on Wednesday, March 1 at 12:30
P.M. (either in person or over Zoom). Specifically, the Appropriations
Committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 12:30
P.M. in Room 2C of the LOB and via Zoom. The committee meeting can be viewed
via YouTube Live:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOfAWcy03u07H8YyZblSbZw/live

In addition, the public hearing may be recorded and broadcast live on
CT-N.com. Individuals who wish to testify must register using the On-line
Testimony Registration Form:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jfrmsIvIS_iX6-2DoD_pDA

The registration form must contain the name of the person who will be
testifying. A unique email address must be provided for each person
registered to speak. Registration will close on Tuesday, February 28, 2023
at 3:00 P.M. Speaker order of approved registrants will be listed in a
randomized order and posted on the Appropriations Committee website on
Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 6:00 P.M. under Public Hearing Testimony. If
you do not have internet access, you may provide testimony via telephone. To
register to testify by phone, call the Phone Registrant Line at 860-240-0033
to leave your contact information. Finally, please submit written testimony
using the On-line Testimony Submission form:

https://www.cga.ct.gov/aspx/CGATestimonySub/CGAtestimonysubmission.aspx?comm
_code=APP

Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. The Committee
encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to condense oral
testimony to a summary of that statement. The NFB of Connecticut as an
organization is preparing its own written testimony, but your own personal
experiences of not being able to get the technology and services you need to
fully live the life you want will be even more impactful. All public hearing
testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it will be
made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines.

Your letters and e-mails to your legislators and your participation in this
hearing will be critical in restoring and improving Adult Services at BESB.

--

Nathanael

NFB Connecticut is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Appropriations Committee Hearing

Time: Feb 23, 2023, 08:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/96698873408?pwd=QTJOaW4weTFjSmJjOXVZVzg1RTBiZz09

Meeting ID: 966 9887 3408

Passcode: 929611

One tap mobile

+16468769923,,96698873408#,,,,*929611# US (New York)

+16469313860,,96698873408#,,,,*929611# US

Dial by your location

        +1 646 876 9923 US (New York)

        +1 646 931 3860 US

Meeting ID: 966 9887 3408

Passcode: 929611

Find your local number: https://zoom. Us/u/ajhQrOFso
<https://zoom.us/u/ajhQrOFso> 

Join by Skype for Business

https://zoom.us/skype/96698873408

Best Regards,

Maryanne Melley

President

National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut

860-212-5549

maryanne.melley at gmail.com

Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into
reality

--

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