[MN-at-Large] We all can make time. Legislative Alert 8-3-2020

[David Andrews]

>
>Subject: [NFBMN-News] We all can make time. Legislative Alert 8-3-2020
>From: NFBMN President via NFBMN-News <nfbmn-news at nfbnet.org>
>
>Fellow Federationists,
>I’m writing this email after making two phone 
>calls to Senators Smith and Klobuchar. It will 
>probably take me longer to write this email than 
>it took me to make the two calls.
>Sometimes, when we see these alerts, they look 
>overwhelming. I get that. They are critically 
>important, however. In fact, in both instances, 
>when I used the language below, the staffers I 
>spoke with wrote down the bill numbers and 
>sections I gave them. They’ll probably write 
>them down when you call as well. Bonus, if you 
>call soon, our comments will show up in the same 
>block, maybe even on the same sheet of paper, and that raises the stakes.
>Please take five minutes, as soon as you read 
>this email, to call your senators. If you 
>don’t have time as soon as you read this 
>email, schedule a time—write it down—to make 
>these calls. That’s what I did. I saw John’s 
>email last night after the switchboard was 
>closed, and I wrote down that I would call this morning at 9:30.
>Now it’s your turn to make a difference. Thank you for your action.
>All the best,
>Ryan
>
>From: NFBNet-Members-List 
><nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org> On 
>Behalf Of Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List
>Sent: Monday, August 3, 2020 4:03 PM
>To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
>Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert 8-3-2020
>
>Dear Federation Family:
>
>I wanted to share some truly great news. We are 
>up to 121 cosponsors on the Access Technology 
>Affordability Act in the House and 24 in the 
>Senate. This would not be possible without your 
>calls, emails, and social media.
>
>While we still need to build cosponsor support 
>for the Access Technology Affordability Act, 
>there are two new issues which need our 
>immediate attention. Last week, on Wednesday, 
>July 29, the House passed Sami’s Law (H.R. 
>4686) without objection. This legislation will 
>increase the safety of ridesharing apps and will 
>ensure that these safety measures are 
>nonvisually accessible. The National Federation 
>of the Blind has worked closely with the sponsor 
>of the bill, Representative Chris Smith of New 
>Jersey, to make sure that blind rideshare users 
>will not be excluded from the bill’s 
>additional safety measures. The bill has now 
>been transmitted to the Senate for 
>consideration, and we need to call or email 
>every member of the Senate and urge them to pass H.R. 4686, Sami’s Law.
>
>The second urgent matter is one of the newly 
>proposed COVID-19 relief bills in the Senate. 
>The SAFE TO WORK Act, S. 4317 contains a section 
>that would eliminate critical protections 
>established in Titles I and III of the Americans 
>with Disabilities Act of 1990. Please contact 
>your senators and urge them to amend this harmful language out of S. 4317.
>
>When you call or email your senators you might say something like:
>
>"Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a 
>constituent of [SENATOR NAME]. I live in [CITY, 
>STATE]. The House recently passed H.R. 4686, 
>Sami’s Law. This bill will make it safer for 
>all people, including blind people, to use 
>rideshare companies, and I urge you to vote in 
>favor of this legislation when it is considered 
>in the Senate. Additionally, I would strongly 
>urge you to propose an amendment to strike 
>Section 181(a)(1)(G) and Section 181(b) from S. 
>4317, the SAFE TO WORK Act. The language 
>currently contained in Section 181 critically 
>weakens the protections for disabled Americans 
>set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act 
>of 1990. Please ensure that the protections of 
>the ADA are maintained by amending this legislation. Thank you.”
>
>It is critical that you contact your two 
>senators on these two pieces of legislation as 
>soon as possible, as the Senate is scheduled to 
>enter its traditional August recess starting 
>Friday, August 7. We don’t want to miss the 
>opportunity to get meaningful legislation passed 
>and to prevent harmful legislation from becoming law.
>
>You can contact your senators by calling the 
>Capitol Switchboard and asking for the office in 
>question. The number is 202-224-3121. If you 
>email your senators, please copy Jeff Kaloc at 
><mailto:jkaloc at nfb.org>jkaloc at nfb.org. Your 
>calls and emails do make a difference.
>
>We recommend you call or email the legislative 
>director in your senator's office. If you need 
>the name and email of the appropriate staff 
>person for any Senate or House office, please 
>email Jesa Medders at <mailto:jmedders at nfb.org>jmedders at nfb.org.
>
>Thank you.
>
>John G. Paré Jr.
>Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy
>National Federation of the Blind
>200 East Wells Street
>Baltimore, MD 21230
>Telephone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2218
>Cell phone: (410) 917-1965
>Email: <mailto:jpare at nfb.org>jpare at nfb.org
>
>The National Federation of the Blind is a 
>community of members and friends who believe in 
>the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. 
>Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.


-- 
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mn-at-large_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200809/6a87af4c/attachment.html>