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<a name="OLE_LINK21"></a>Dear Minnesota Federationists:<br>
<br>
Much great news and activity since the last update. I am placing the
"to-do" items first, but following that is background on some
of these items.<br>
If you have any items to be included in future updates, please send them
along. <br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>To-Do List (AKA Things You Can Do To Help)</b></h2><br><br>
<br>
☐ Call both Senators Al Franken (202-224-5641) and Amy Klobuchar
(202-224-3244 ) and ask them to cosponsor S. 732, the Access Technology
Affordability Act.<br>
<br>
☐ 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
<a href="http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/">
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/</a>. If you'd prefer, the
number to the Capitol Switchboard is 202-224-3121; from there, the
operator can transfer you.<br>
<br>
☐ Read the April issue of our national monthly flagship publication,
The Braille Monitor:
<a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm1704tc.htm">
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm1704tc.htm</a>
<br>
<br>
☐ Check out the Winter 2017 issue of Future Reflections, our magazine
for parents of blind children (interesting and informative for
non-parents, too):
<a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr36/1/fr3601tc.htm">
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr36/1/fr3601tc.htm</a><br>
<br>
☐ Students, there is still time to apply for a state scholarship from
the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota. Everyone else, please
help us let any and all eligible students know about the program:
<a href="http://www.nfbmn.org/students/scholarship.htm">
http://www.nfbmn.org/students/scholarship.htm</a><br>
<br>
☐ Please continue to help spread the word about the 2017 Possibilities
Fair for Seniors which will be held in Mankato on April 19. Details and a
registration form are at
<a href="http://www.nfbmn.org/fair/index.htm">
http://www.nfbmn.org/fair/index.htm</a><br>
<br>
☐ Make your hotel reservations and preregister for the national
convention in Orlandothe deadline to get the lower registration price is
May 31):
<a href="https://nfb.org/convention">https://nfb.org/convention</a>.
<br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>News:</b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<a name="_GoBack"></a> The Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher
Education Act, also known as “AIM HIGH”, H.R. 1772, has been
introduced in the House by Congressman Phil Roe (R-TN) and Congressman
Joe Courtney (D-CT). It will promote instructional technology and content
that are accessible to the blind and other students with print
disabilities. Representatives Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson, and Rick
Nolan should be reminded of their previous co-sponsorship of a previous
iteration of this legislation (when it was called the TEACH Act).<br>
<br>
The Access Technology Affordability Act of 2017 (ATAA) H.R. 1734 and S.
732: These companion bills were introduced by Representatives David Young
(R-IA) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) in the House and by Senators John
Boozman (R-AR) and Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate on March 28,
2017. This legislation will establish a per-person individual refundable
tax credit to be used over a multi-year period to offset the cost of
access technology for blind people.<br>
<br>
The Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act of
2017 (H.R. 1377): This was introduced by Representative Gregg Harper
(R-MS) to remove barriers to employment opportunities for people with
disabilities by phasing out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act
and facilitating the transitioning of people with disabilities now
working in segregated employment settings into competitive employment
opportunities in their communities. Representative Keith Ellison had been
one of the original co-sponsors of a previous iteration of this
legislation.<br>
<br>
☑ The Minnesota Association of Blind Students held its "No Joke
Student Seminar" on April 1. In attendance was a great mix of
energetic high school and college students, and the agenda kept everyone
on their toes with loads of good information, discussion, moving around,
and great take-aways! Kudos to the MABS board, and we look forward to
working with the new Federationists who joined us at the seminar.<br>
<br>
More on this in a separate email, but the current Minnesota State
Senate budget proposal includes a decrease to the appropriation for SSB
after the year 2019--it would basically undo the work that was done last
year to address the very real and growing need for
adjustment-to-blindness services to seniors losing vision. The house
proposal does some tinkering as well. We need to make sure that our
Minnesota senators (and all legislators) understand that the number of
seniors who will need services to stay independent when losing vision
will *increase* from now to 2019 and afterward, not decrease, and that
the state must continue to make that investment or else be paying much
more later if people cannot maintain their independence.<br>
<br>
Speaking of seniors, at the recent CSUN technology conference, the NFB
made a presentation on phones for blind seniors. Here is some brief
information along with the PowerPoint of the presentation.:
<a href="https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/national-federation-blind-reviews-phones-low-vision-and-blind-seniors">
https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/national-federation-blind-reviews-phones-low-vision-and-blind-seniors</a>
<br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Important Dates Coming Up Soon:</b></h2><br>
<br>
<br>
Thursday, April 13: Meeting of State Rehabilitation Council for the
Blind
<a href="http://mn.gov/deed/job-seekers/blind-visual-impaired/council/">
http://mn.gov/deed/job-seekers/blind-visual-impaired/council/</a><br>
Saturday, April 15: Deadline for NFB of Minnesota state scholarship
applications
<a href="http://www.nfbmn.org/students/scholarship.htm">
http://www.nfbmn.org/students/scholarship.htm</a><br>
Saturday, April 15: Deadline for applications to BLIND Inc. summer
programs for children and youth
<a href="https://www.blindinc.org/programs/transition-program/prep-program/">
https://www.blindinc.org/programs/transition-program/prep-program/</a>
and
<a href="https://www.blindinc.org/programs/transition-program/buddy-program/">
https://www.blindinc.org/programs/transition-program/buddy-program/</a>
<br>
Wednesday, April 19: Possibilities fair for Seniors in Mankato
<a href="http://www.nfbmn.org/fair/index.htm">
www.nfbmn.org/fair/index.htm</a><br>
Saturday, April 22, 9:00 AM: Next meeting of Board of Directors of
BLIND, Inc. <a href="http://www.blindinc.org/">www.blindinc.org/</a><br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Other dates to remember:</b></h2><br><br>
Monday, May 7: Application deadline for the 2017 NFB Youth Slam!
<a href="http://blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam">
http://blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam</a><br>
Saturday, May 20: Semiannual Convention (pre-registration and other
details available soon)<br>
May 31: Deadline to pre-register for National Convention:
<a href="http://lx-web.nfb.org/convention/preregistration.php">
http://lx-web.nfb.org/convention/preregistration.php</a>.<br>
Saturday, June 3: Next board meeting of NFB of Minnesota in
Rochester<br>
Monday July 10-Saturday July 15: 2017 National Convention in Orlando
<br><br>
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<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.nfbmn.org">http://www.nfbmn.org</a><br>
<br>
Twitter:
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nfbmn">http://www.twitter.com/nfbmn</a>
<br>
<br>
YouTube channel:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/nationsblind">
http://www.youtube.com/nationsblind</a></blockquote></body>
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