[IABS-Talk] President Riccobono's notebook for the week of May 3

[Marilyn Green]

A Letter to the NFB Community from the Special Committee:

As in the
April 15 open letter on safety and support progress,
the NFB Board established the Special Committee on January 6, 2021, to
oversee and direct an internal investigation of allegations of sexual
misconduct.
Please read the letter to the NFB community from the Special Committee:
https://nfb.org/programs-services/safety-support/letter-nfb-community-special-committee

Lyft Offering Free Rides to Federation Members:

Our rideshare partners at Lyft, through their LyftUp Vaccine Access
program, will be providing access to free and donated rides. The code
is being made
available for use through June 30. It should be used to travel to and
from COVID-19 vaccination appointments. There will be a code for dose
one and a separate
code for dose two. Members will need to contact affiliate presidents
to receive a code and must submit the name of the individual
requesting the code,
their city and state, and a description of how the code will be used.
Please do not share or post on social media.

Summer Program for High School Students: Deadline Approaching for NFB EQ:

National Federation of the Blind Engineering Quotient (NFB EQ)
applications are open. NFB EQ is going virtual July 5-30. High school
students can join
us on a month-long adventure into engineering and problem-solving
activities. No specific level of engineering experience is required.
Engage in activities
designed to strengthen knowledge and grow interests. The deadline to
apply is May 10. Learn more and apply now at
www.nfb.org/eq.

NFB BELL® Academy Deadlines:

The deadline for our first NFB BELL Academy In-Home session is quickly
approaching. If you wish to participate in the session starting June
7, the application
deadline is Friday, May 7, 2021. This year options are available for
beginning Braille readers, intermediate Braille readers, and those who
know the whole
code. Please visit
nfb.org/bell
 for more information or to apply.

Calling All Veterans:

Vernon Humphries, the president of the National Association of Blind
Veterans, is looking for all veterans to include in the convention’s
Celebration of
Freedom. This year he is asking to receive a ten-second audio
recording of each of veterans introducing themselves and providing a
short glimpse of their
service. He is requesting that you all spread the word and to assist
veterans who might have difficulty in creating an audio recording. He
would like to
receive these at
mr_president at nabv.org
 before June 6.

Legislative Update:

We continue to build cosponsor support on the Access Technology
Affordability Act. We are up to seventy-four cosponsors in the House
and seventeen in the
Senate. Please continue to call your representative and senators and
urge them to cosponsor H.R. 431 and S. 212.

Regarding voting, we are expecting Senators Merkley and Klobuchar to
release text for a proposed amendment to S. 1, the For the People Act,
in the near
future. We expect this amendment to address many of our concerns with
the bill. Specifically, we are hoping it preserves the right of states
to allow for
the electronic delivery, marking, and return of ballots for voters
with disabilities. In addition, we are hoping it mandates that
ballot-marking devices
used with in-person voting be available to people with and without
disabilities, that there is more than one ballot-marking device per
polling location,
and that voters are specifically and actively offered to use these machines.

With regard to a national framework for testing autonomous vehicles,
Senators Thune and Peters are planning to offer an amendment to the
Endless Frontier
Act sponsored by Senator Schumer. This amendment specifically creates
a new exemption for testing vehicles that “provide transportation
access for people
with disabilities including non-visual access for individuals who are
blind or visually impaired.” The final amendment text will be released
late this
week or next. It is likely the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation will vote on the amendment next week.

With regard to both voting and autonomous vehicles, please keep on the
lookout for legislative alerts in the near future. Once the final
amendment text
is released, both of these items are likely to move quickly.

Independence Market:

There are two products of the month: the standard click rule (AID01R,
$95.00) and the metric click rule (AID01M, $120.00). And there are
several sale and
close-out items: Nine Men’s Morris (AIG74N $10.00); stereo earbuds
with volume control (AIA47H, $5.00); NCB stoneware mug (with NFB in
tactile Braille)
(LSMXX1N, $5.00); and a set of four playing card holders (AIG25P, $4.00).

Dates to Keep in Mind:

(all times eastern)

·      May 7:
NFB BELL Academy application
 deadline (for session one)

·      May 10:
NFB EQ application
 deadline

·      June 1: Presidential Release LIVE, 8:00 p.m.

·      July 6-10: NFB National Convention, anywhere and everywhere



-- 
Marilyn Green, President
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
312-343-8396
www.nfbofillinois.org