[Nfb-idaho] Still need your letters

[Colleen McFadden]

This was from the Fall 2017 TLITZ that terry Smith sent out.  We still need
many more people to send out letters.  Hopefully, some of you can help.
Thanks.

Colleen

Rest Area Commercialization Gaining Momentum  -  Yes, we've been talking
about this issue for at least a year now but this is not a case of the
little boy crying wolf.  The threat of rest area commercialization is very
very real and the movement is gaining momentum.  2018 looks to be a pivotal
year in our fight to protect opportunities for blind entrepreneurs.  H.R.
1990 is still alive and gained a new co-sponsor in the U.S. House of
Representatives from Arizona. Recently, the Texas Department of
Transportation reached out to its Congressional delegation asking them to
work to eliminate the ban on rest area commercialization so we will see if
that effort results in any additional sponsors from the Lone Star State.
But that bill in and of itself is not the real threat.

There are two concerns here.  First, we are fairly confident that rest area
commercialization will be part of any infrastructure bill that could be
introduced early next year.  The Washington Post reported that President
Trump hopes to see his long awaited infrastructure bill introduced after the
New Year.  The bill will focus on public-private partnerships just like what
has been discussed for the interstate rest areas. Although the article,
which can be read at


 

 <http://wapo.st/2its7Ya?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.2004b48c622a>
http://wapo.st/2its7Ya?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.2004b48c622a

 doesn't specifically mention rest areas, it might as well have.  This
Administration supports commercializing the rest areas and we can expect
support from the National Governor's Association.  We will have a real fight
on our hands in Congress. 

But now there is a new threat.  The Governor of Arizona has asked the U.S.
Department of Transportation for a waiver  which would allow that state to
commercialize its rest areas.  Although the current law does not give DOT
authority to grant such a waiver, the State of Arizona is asking to do it
under some demonstration authority.  Although we are convinced that the
career professionals in DOT will oppose such a waiver, we are equally
confident that the political appointees will look for every way possible to
grant such a waiver.  If one state gets such a waiver, the floodgates will
open and opportunities for blind entrepreneurs will vanish into thin air. 

The National Federation of the Blind and NABM are committed to fighting to
protect these opportunities but we need your help.  We set up a website and
asked blind entrepreneurs, family, friends, and other stakeholders to go to
the website, provide some basic information, and then send an automatically
generated letter to all of your members of Congress.  2,000 of you have done
that so far but we need many times that number if we want to make a
difference.  It is not too late.  Go to
https://nfb.constituentvoice.net/nfbaction/us-nabm_online_letter_to_congress
_commercialization  and let your voices be heard.  You don't have to be a
rest area vendor.  You don't even have to be a blind entrepreneur.  Ask all
of your friends and family to do the same.  Act today!