[Mn-at-large] NFB of Minnesota Update

[David Andrews]

>
>Dear Minnesota Federationists:
>
>☑ There were 120 attendees at our semiannual 
>convention this year. It takes the work of many 
>people to make a successful convention, as this 
>one certainly was by any measure. A tremendous 
>thank you to all who gave presentations, 
>contributed to discussions, hauled tables and 
>chairs in and out of the building, worked on 
>set-up and clean-up, coordinated break-out 
>sessions and childcare, brought their enthusiasm 
>and helped to make other attendees feel welcome 
>and get their questions answered—and all the 
>other countless things necessary to make a 
>convention the kind of event that helps 
>strengthen us as an organization and as individual members.
>
>→ The next meeting of the board of the NFB of 
>Minnesota will take place this Saturday June 3 
>in Rochester beginning at 10:00 AM. Some limited 
>space is available on the van from the metro 
>area; any wishing to ride from the Metro to 
>Rochester should contact me at 
><mailto:Jennifer.dunnam1829 at gmail.com>Jennifer.dunnam1829 at gmail.com, 
>and I'll confirm with you.
>
>→ The funding for training for blind seniors 
>remains in place in the budget bills passed out 
>of the Legislature at the end of the session. At 
>this writing, the Governor's decisions are pending.
>
>☑ Recently the Raise the Wage Act of 2017 was 
>introduced in both houses of the Congress, which 
>calls for the minimum wage to be raised for 
>everyone. Although the NFB does not have a 
>position on what the minimum wage should be, we 
>do believe that a disability should not affect a 
>person's right to earn the minimum wage. This is 
>why we applauded the inclusion of language to 
>that effect in the Raise the Wage Act, and we 
>can be proud of the fact that one of our own 
>Minnesota representatives, Keith Ellison, was 
>involved in making that happen. Section 6 of the 
>Raise the Wage Act of 2017 would implement an 
>immediate minimum wage of $4.25 for all workers 
>classified under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor 
>Standards Act of 1938. This absolute minimum 
>wage rate would increase by two dollars per year 
>until it matched the minimum wage earned by the 
>rest of the American workforce—at which point 
>employers would no longer be permitted to pay 
>employees with disabilities a subminimum wage. 
>Of course we are also still pushing for the TIME 
>ACT (H.R. 1377), but inclusion of this language 
>in this other bill will be helpful in raising 
>visibility of the need to end this antiquated practice.
>
>☐ Uber and Lyft are now available in Rochester 
>Minnesota as well as the metro area and Duluth. 
>We want to make sure that all of us can utilize 
>these transportation options whether or not we 
>use a guide dog or other service animal. All 
>over the country we in the NFB are working with 
>Uber and Lyft to be sure that their policies 
>around service dogs are what they should be. 
>Please help spread the word that we would like 
>everyone using service dogs (NFB members or not) 
>to participate in providing ongoing feedback on 
>your experiences with these ride sharing 
>services wherever you may use them. More 
>information is at <https://nfb.org/rideshare>https://nfb.org/rideshare
>
>As always, if you have items for these updates, please send them!
>
>
>
>To-Do List (AKA Things You Can Do To Help)
>
>
>
>☐ Make your hotel reservations and preregister 
>for the national convention in Orlando—the 
>deadline to get the lower registration price is 
>May 31): <https://nfb.org/convention>https://nfb.org/convention.
>
>☐ Call your Congressman or Congresswoman and 
>ask him or her to cosponsor these three bills: 
>the AIM HIGH Act (H.R. 1772), the Access 
>Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 1734), and 
>the TIME Act (H.R. 1377). If you aren't sure who 
>your representative is, find the name and 
>contact information by entering your zip code at 
><http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/>http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/. 
>If you'd prefer, the number to the Capitol 
>Switchboard is 202-224-3121; from there, the operator can transfer you.
>
>
>
>Important Dates Coming Up Soon:
>
>
>
>• Wednesday, May 31: Deadline to pre-register 
>for National Convention: 
><http://lx-web.nfb.org/convention/preregistration.php>http://lx-web.nfb.org/convention/preregistration.php.
>• Thursday, June 1 (I had this date wrong in the 
>last update—it is definitely this Thursday June 
>1): Meeting of State Rehabilitation Council for 
>the Blind 
><http://mn.gov/deed/job-seekers/blind-visual-impaired/council/>http://mn.gov/deed/job-seekers/blind-visual-impaired/council/
>• Saturday, June 3: Next board meeting of NFB of Minnesota in Rochester
>
>
>
>Other dates to remember:
>
>
>
>
>• Monday July 10-Saturday July 15: 2017 National Convention in Orlando
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
>blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
>you or your future. Every day we raise the 
>expectations of blind people, because low 
>expectations create obstacles between blind 
>people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
>want; blindness is not what holds you back
>
><http://www.nfbmn.org>http://www.nfbmn.org
>
>Twitter: <http://www.twitter.com/nfbmn>http://www.twitter.com/nfbmn
>
>YouTube channel: 
><http://www.youtube.com/nationsblind>http://www.youtube.com/nationsblind
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