[nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question

[Derek Manners]

Hey Vejas, we are pushing the elimination of subminimum wages for people with disabilities (the Time Act) Guidelines on accessibility in higher education (AM-HEA, pronounced Aim High), allowing veterans who were disabled in the line of service to get to fly on military air craft for free if there is space available just as other retired veterans get to (Space Available), and the treaty that would allow sharing of accessible books between different countries (Marrakesh Treaty). There will be fact sheets up on the web sometime as we get closer to Washington Seminar and you can get way better email material then. 

As far as responsiveness, as long as you include the bill number, staffers count how many contacts they get in support and against the legislation so even if you don't get a direct response, you'll still be helping out the cause. 

You should also talk to your state legislative director and see if there's anything you can do to help out if you are interested in this stuff and help the legislative committee as well if you aren't already. 

Feel free to reach out to me personally if you'd like more info. 

Best regards
Derek Manners
Legislative Director, Massachusetts. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 26, 2015, at 7:50 PM, Vejas Vasiliauskas via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Thank you all so much for your answers.
> I would be very interested in getting in touch with my members of Congress.  I just have a few more questions:
> What are the main issues that we are trying to get across? I know that there is the one bill that people with disabilities should have equal minimum wage.  Is this the only issue we are bringing to our congresspeople, or is there something else?
> My next question is: do you find that most Congresspeople fairly good at answering their e-mails? I know from attending the NFB Law Program as a teen that even when you talk to your congresspeople in person, they may just completely forget about the bill or ignore it and don't follow through, so I would imagine that follow-up with e-mail contact would be more difficult.
> Thank you so much.
> Vejas
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Sat, 26 Dec 2015 13:28:23 -0500
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
> 
> Hello Vejas,
> 
> I have never heard of any national or state conventions where you could
> participate by phone before.  I know the national convention along with some
> state affiliates will stream the convention online so other people can
> listen.  But I have never seen people who are not at a convention be able to
> participate and interact with specific events and activities at a
> convention.  However, I do know some state affiliates as well as state
> student divisions hold meetings via conference call, so perhaps this might
> be what you are talking about when talking about people being able to
> participate via phone.
> 
> I think the only way a person can participate in meetings with members of
> Congress during Washington Seminar is by attending Washington Seminar.
> However, there are still ways you can have an impact on the legislative
> efforts that go on at Washington Seminar despite the fact you are not able
> to attend Washington Seminar.
> 
> In years past when I have not been able to attend Washington Seminar, I
> would write an email to my members of Congress shortly before other members
> of the NFB would be meeting with them during Washington Seminar.  In general,
> there is usually a coordinator in each state affiliate who is in charge of
> contacting members of Congress to set up the appointments for Washington
> Seminar.  I am sure if you contact the coordinator for Washington Seminar in
> your state they should be able to provide you with the names and contact
> information for the people they will be meeting with during Washington
> Seminar.
> 
> Contacting members of Congress before and after Washington Seminar is just
> as important as meeting with members of Congress during Washington Seminar.
> Sometimes it can take a lot of follow up to get a member of Congress on
> board with our legislative efforts.  Following up with members of Congress
> after Washington Seminar can be a rather tedious but rewarding job if it is
> something you are interested in doing.
> 
> Anyway, I hope this helps answer your questions about Washington Seminar.
> Attending Washington Seminar can sometimes be challenging for students.
> Hopefully you will be able to attend Washington Seminar next year since you
> are not able to attend this year.
> 
> Warm regards,
> Elizabeth
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
> Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
> Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2015 12:26 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
> Subject: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
> 
> Hi All,
> I was very interested in going to the Washington Seminar in January, but I
> now can't, due to reasons I do not wish to disclose on a public forum.
> My question is this: I know that for the NFB conventions, if you couldn't
> make it to meetings, you could still do it by phone.
> Does anyone know if you could still have state appointments and meetings
> with your affiliate by phone and still participate?
> Thanks,
> Vejas
> 
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