[Home-on-the-Range] Request for action on Senate Bill 46 — re. permanent funding for NFB Newsline® in Kansas

[Rob Tabor]

Greetings, colleagues and cohorts,

The time has come as expected to make our case for funding our Newsline service via a line item in the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) revenue base. The bill is scheduled for hearing before the Senate Utilities committee on Thursday, February 6 at 1:30 pm in room 548 in the south wing of the state house in Topeka.

If you submitted testimony on last year's measure and have saved the document file, you are ahead of the game. In that case, you will only need to make minor changes particular the currently scheduled hearing. Here are the items you will need to  address.  • Your full name and place of residence. You don't need to list your residential or mailing address, but you should list your city or county of residence. This shows legislators that you have a direct interest in maintaining your Newsline® service.

• Whether you are submitting written testimony only or whether you wish to testify orally.

• Be sure to submit your written testimony in PDF file format. Those who submitted testimnaony last year year can do your edits in MS-Word and convert or export your updated document to a PDF file.

• Write your testimony from a personal viewpoint, not on behalf of NFB Kansas. I will testify officially on behalf of this organization.

• State in specific terms why Newsline is important to you. For example, you may like to keep up with emergency weather alerts. Or you may rely on it for grocery and other special retail sales promotions.
• Keep it brief, e.g., limit your testimony to no more than a full page. As a rule of thumb, about half a page will be sufficient.

• State that you are a proponent of SB 46. Doing this enables the committee clerical assistant to separate proponents, opponents, and neutrals in the packets she prepares for committee members.

• Submit your testimony at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled hearing.

• Last but not least, submit your testimony by email to s.utilities at senate.ks.gov

Thanks for your advocacy efforts, and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Best regards,
Rob Tabor | first vice president / legislative director National Federation of the Blind of Kansas
Ph: (785) 865-9959
rob.tabor at sbcglobal.net