[IL-Talk] Washington Seminar 2026 Issues

[davant1958 at gmail.com]

Hello All,

Dustin has provided you with an update on the entire NFB legislative agenda.
We are a little month away from Washington Seminar 2026. When in Washington,
we will focus on three of the issues. 

Our three Washington 2026 issues are Protecting Education, Employment, and
Independent Living Programs for Blind Americans; the Access Technology
Affordability Act; and the Blind Americans Return to Work Act. We will be
given the fact sheets soon. However, we have been working on the access
Technology Affordability Act and the Blind Americans Return to Work Act for
a few years. 

Ahead of the team going to Washington, we would like to engage in a push to
get more Illinois cosponsors for the Access Technology Affordability Act
(HR. 1529/S. 1918)  and the Blind Americans Return to Work Act (H.R. 1175).
Please reach out to your congressional representative on these two issues. I
have provided a template you might use when you call or email.

Access Technology Affordability Act

When you call or email you might say:

"My name is [YOUR NAME] and I want to urge [REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR NAME] to
support the Access Technology Affordability Act, [H.R. 1529/S 1918]. This
bill will save the federal government an estimated 315 million dollars over
the span of five years according to Mathematica, a well-respected economic
firm. It will do this by creating a 2,000 dollar refundable tax credit for
blind people for the purchase of specialized access technology. This
technology will help blind people search for a job, apply for a job, and
then keep that job, which in turn increases the number of blind Americans
who are working and paying into programs like Social Security and decreases
the number of blind Americans who receive government benefits. Please
cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act."

We suggest a subject like: "Mathematica estimates H.R. 1529/S. 1918 would
save the federal government 315 million dollars over five years."

Blind Americans Return to Work Act

"My name is [YOUR NAME] and I want to urge [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] to support
the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 1175. This bill will eliminate
the SSDI earnings cliff and incentivize more blind Americans to work in
higher-paying, more productive jobs. This will in turn result in those blind
employees contributing more in federal income and FICA taxes. Please
cosponsor the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 1175."

We suggest a subject like: "Help get more blind Americans back to work by
cosponsoring H.R. 1175."

 

 

Thanks for all you all do.