[Jayhawk-Chapter] First Washington Seminar Training Highlights

[Rob Tabor]

Greetings, Kansas Federation colleagues,

Yesterday evening our national office staff conducted the first of 3 online trainings for the 2026 Washington Seminar. Headquarters for the event will be the Holiday Inn Washington Capitol Mall at 550 C Street SW, as it has been since the first event in 1973.

• Hotel reservations. The deadline for reserving a hotel room is Wednesday, December 31. Our special room rate is $194 per night plus applicable taxes and fees. You may book your room online via the Washington Seminar website at https//nfb.org/washington-seminar or by calling (877) 834-3613. Either way you must enter or mention the code FB6 to get the discounted room rate.

• Registration and accommodations. This year we are asked to registerfor the Washington Seminar. Doing sowill enable our advocacy and policy team to efficiently convey timely information and updates. The registration form is on the Washington Seminar web page as cited above. If you need any accommodations, the deadline to make a request is January 7. Accommodation requests may be made by email to Kyle Walls at kwalls at nfb.org.

• First day schedule. On Monday, January 26 there will be a training for state presidents and legislative directors from 9:00 a.m. — 11:00 a.m. Next, there will be a training for all attendees from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., followed by the customary Great Gathering In ceremony at 5:00 p.m., all local time. Additionally, ijif you are have ever, visited our national center in Baltimore, a tour bus is available in the morning. If you wish to join the tour, you need to be in the hotel lobby by no later than 7:30 a.m.

• Legislative priorities. First, we are urging Congress to protect all programs pertaining to education, rehabilitation, employment, and independent living, all of which operate under the umbrella agency of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation, services, (OSERS), under the department of Education, which the administration seeks to eliminate. These Federally sponsored programs includ, among other things, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation, Act of 1973 as amended, the Randolph-Sheppard Business Enterprise Program (BEP), and the Older Independent Blind OIB) program.

Our second issue is the Accessible Technology Affordability Act (ATAA). This measure would make a refundable tax cred of $2,000 available per eligible blind person to subsidize the purchase of access technologies such as talking computers, braille printers, refreshable braille display devices, etc. Interestingly, a highly respected think tank called Mathematica, estimates that this legislation will save the government approximately $315 million over the 3 year period. This is the first time we have had the benefit of what Congress calls or score. This information will be included in the Washington Seminar packet which will be ready for pickup in room 275 which serves as central operations for Washington Seminar.

Thirdly and finally, the Blind Americans Return to Work Act is on docket for the third consecutive year. This bill would eliminate what we call the Social Security earnings cliff, so called because any earned income over the substantial Gainful Work Activity (SGA) amount puts SSDI beneficiaries at risk of losing benefits. The SGA amount for blind SSDI beneficiaries is $2830 for 2026. The research shows that working blind SSDI beneficiaries are reducing work hours and even declining promotions for fear of losing benefits. The solution proposed in the language of the bill would reduce earnings above the SGA amount by one dollar for every two dollars earned. This solution will foster economic independence for blind SSDI beneficiaries who want to work full time. There is no known opposition to the bill, and the current SSA commissioner supports it.

• Training schedule. There are 3 more trainings scheduled for January 2026. These include a specialized training for those who will be entering meeting appointments and and contact reports in the Washington Seminar portal. This will be followed up by 2 mock Congressional meetings. So look for alerts from me in your inboxes for the mock meeting trainings. I strongly encourage you to attend these trainings if you plan to participate, especially if you are a first time attendee. 

Finally, briefing materials on our 3 issues are available in MS-Word format on the Washington Seminar website.

Regards,

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