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Hello chapter members and friends,</div>
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Please read the very important email below regarding the state's decision to merge BBVS under BVRS. It is not right! Please take the time to call the Secretary of Labor and Industry and Governor Wolf about how this will really hurt blind/visually impaired people
in PA. Their contact info is in the email below.<br>
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Also, please spread the word to everyone you know, and ask them to make calls too. We need to stop this from happening!</div>
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Thank you,<br>
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Harriet<br>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font style="font-size:11pt" face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> NFBP-Talk <nfbp-talk-bounces@nfbnet.org> on behalf of Drenth, Joe via NFBP-Talk <nfbp-talk@nfbnet.org><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, March 28, 2019 10:46 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'nfbp-talk@nfbnet.org'<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Drenth, Joe<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [NFBP-Talk] CALL TO ACTION to preserve independent blindness services in Pennsylvania</font>
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Hello everyone,</p>
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The idea of doing away with Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services (BBVS) and lumping those services under the general disability vocational rehabilitation services bureau (BVRS) has been mentioned several times recently by the Secretary of
Labor and Industry and by the Acting Executive Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), under which BBVS and BVRS currently exist as independent bureaus.
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This idea of merging the bureaus has been around for a long time, but it is being talked about by these individuals and a few others more and more frequently over the past months, such as at State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation meetings, Blindness Enterprise
Program meetings, and several other events. Their increasing focus on this plan is alarming and should not be allowed to continue.</p>
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Although OVR’s official position is that no decision has been made to merge these services, they are doing more and more planning behind the scenes in preparation for taking this drastic step. They use the argument that this change would save money, but no
reports or information is available that backs up this claim. Even if it saved a little money, we cannot allow them to continue considering this option in their numbers game to get OVR out of its budget shortfall. There are many other ways to save far more
money that do not damage the lives and livelihoods of thousands of blind and visually-impaired Pennsylvanians.</p>
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To preserve the independent Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services and the crucial services it provides based on the individual needs of people with vision loss, please email the Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry, Jerry Oleksiak, to say that we
the blind and visually-impaired community of Pennsylvania refuse to be treated like second-class citizens by having our unique needs ignored. His email address is:</p>
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<a href="mailto:wgoleksiak@pa.gov">wgoleksiak@pa.gov</a></p>
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Also, please contact Governor Tom Wolf to express the same sentiments. You can call his office at:</p>
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717-787-2500</p>
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Or you can complete an online form to submit your comments electronically:</p>
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<a href="https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact/">https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact/</a></p>
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Thank you very much for taking action to preserve Pennsylvania’s blindness services. Please feel free to pass this along to others who will stand with us against this detrimental merger.</p>
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Joseph Drenth </p>
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First Vice-President, NFB of Pennsylvania</p>
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Pennsylvania State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation</p>
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Senior R&D Software Engineer, JBT Corporation, Automated Systems Division</p>
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