[Fabs] Fwd: [NFBF-L] Reminder - Extra Extra Read All About It - NFB of Florida Legislative meetings for Thursday, March 17th - 2 meetings on our schedule! All are invited! Other Important updates included.

Thu Mar 17 14:57:54 UTC 2022

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Russ Davis via NFBF-L <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Date: Wed, Mar 16, 2022, 10:34 PM
Subject: [NFBF-L] Reminder - Extra Extra Read All About It - NFB of Florida
Legislative meetings for Thursday, March 17th - 2 meetings on our schedule!
All are invited! Other Important updates included.
To: <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>, <nfbf-leaders at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <russell at radiorusty.com>

Hi everyone,

This is just a friendly reminder about our two Legislative meetings set for
Thursday, March 17th beginning at 12:00 PM.

See the email I’d sent out on Monday along with the Zoom call in info below.

Looking forward to seeing you on what we hope will be a truly terrific St.
Patricks Day.

Very Respectfully,

Russ Davis

Legislative Director, NFB of Florida

Ph. 904-993-8433

Email: russell at radiorusty.com

*From:* russell at radiorusty.com <russell at radiorusty.com>
*Sent:* Monday, March 14, 2022 1:22 PM
*Subject:* FW: [NFBF-L] Extra Extra Read All About It - NFB of Florida
Legislative meetings for Thursday, March 17th - 2 meetings on our schedule!
All are invited! Other Important updates included.

Happy Monday Everyone,

Wanted to get this notice out to you all early, to advise that we have
managed to secure two legislative priorities meetings for this week with
two House offices. On Thursday, March 17th at 12:00 PM, we will meet with
the office of Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy, District 7. At 1:00 PM we’ll
have the opportunity to sit down with Representative Kat Cammack from
Florida’s 3rd District. Everyone is welcome to join in on these very
important meetings. The Zoom call in information will be shown below.

Here’s a little more background on where we are with these two appointments
and also where we stand after all of our hard work over these past several
months. All four of our 2022 Legislative priorities still need our
attention, especially with Congresswoman Cammack who has not yet signed on
to any of our bills. I am pleased to advise that Rep. Murphy is a
co-sponsor on The Access Technology Affordability Act, (HR431). We will
want to quickly thank Murphy for her consistent support of the ATAA but
then will present the other three initiatives, those being: The Medical
device Non Visual Accessibility Act, (HR4853), The Transformation to
Competitive Integrated Employment Act, (HR2373) and the 21st Century
Websites and Applications Accessibility Act.

We’re doing incredibly well with the ATAA nationwide, with a total of 145
co-sponsors in the House and 37 in the Senate. In Florida we have 11 House
members in support. We did add one new supporter since Washington Seminar
began last month. Congratulations to the South team for helping to secure
the support of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. Although neither of
Florida’s two Senators has agreed to lend their support to the ATAA,
(S-212), we’re pleased that the bill has growing support in the Senate.

We are still working on securing appointments with Senators Rubio and
Scott. Gaining support from our Senators has proven to be extremely
difficult, but because there’s no quit in us, we’re going to keep trying.
Since I’m on the topic of appointments, I’ll let you all know that after
this week, we’ll only need to gain appointments with three more House Reps
in order to reach our goal of 100%. We’re closing in on 24 total House
appointments with only Representatives, Buchanan, Castor and Jiminez
remaining. Again, in the Sunshine State, we don’t give in to adversity, we
just keep trying harder!

Back to exciting bill update news, (keep reading, this is good stuff)! The
Medical Device bill, (HR-4853) gained co-sponsor support in Florida thanks
to our Washington Seminar efforts. Congratulations to the East team for
helping to secure the support of  Congressman Darren Soto. It’s great to
have this NFB Legislative Champion back with us. Nationwide, the Medical
Device bill has 40 total cosponsors. We have lots of potential in Florida
to raise those numbers dramatically.

Finally let’s cover the last legislative priority with a bill number, that
being the TCIE, (HR-2373). Here’s an odd coincidence, this bill also has 40
House cosponsors. The difference is, in Florida, we brought two House
members on board through our efforts during Washington Seminar. Darren Soto
signed onto the bill as did Rep Daniel Webster, (R-11). Way to go West Team
for the terrific work with the Daniel Webster meeting. Let’s re-energize
ourselves this week with the two new appointments we’ve obtained and build
support for all of our initiatives here in Florida.

Here’s a heads up for another Affiliate wide meeting. We’ll hold our
regular monthly Legislative Concerns meeting on Thursday, March 24th at
8:00 PM. By the time of that gathering, maybe we’ll have new support
numbers to announce or new appointments to talk about. That call will have
a different Zoom meeting ID, so don’t confuse it with this week’s calls,
(which use the North team Washington Seminar meeting ID). Watch for a
formal meeting announcement for this meeting soon.

My last words of today regarding our NFB of Florida legislative work is
that, we still need more involvement from our Affiliate members and
supporters. Coming to any meetings you can make sends a strong signal to
our elected officials that we are united in our determination to gain their
support and to pass bills critical to blind Floridians and blind Americans.
I am so happy with the turnout that we have had so far during this year’s
Washington Seminar season, but I know we can do better. Having you at the
meetings for this week is important, but I will stress that if you have not
made any of our House meetings, having your presence with us this Thursday
is truly indispensable. If you would like to call me and chat about our
process, I am more than happy spending time discussing our efforts and your
vital role in them. Feel free to reach out any time, my mobile number is at
the bottom of this email.

Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy email, so looking forward
to seeing you this and next Thursday.

Take good care and stay safe,

Respectfully,

Russ Davis

Legislative Director, National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Ph. 904-993-8433

Email: Russell at radiorusty.com

 National Federation of the Blind of Florida is inviting you to a
scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Washington Seminar Meeting

(don’t forget the house keeping rules: arrive 15 minutes early with
microphones muted and cameras off…we’ll work on those as needed).

Meeting with Dist. 7 Representative, Stephanie Murphy

Time: March 17, 2022 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

And

Meeting with Dist. 3 Representative, Kat Cammack

Time: March 17, 2022 1:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8448277371

Meeting ID: 844 827 7371

One tap mobile

+16468769923,,8448277371#

Meeting ID: 844 827 7371

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbc9TdRZuW

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