[NFBAZ-EastValleyChapter] Phoenix Seminar Information/ Appointment Times/ Talking Points

[Megan Homrighausen]

Dear East Valley,
As you may know our NFBA Phoenix Seminar will be held at the Arizona Capital starting at 9am tomorrow. We will begin by meeting in the Capital Cafeteria for a briefing of our legislative priorities. The cafeteria is located in the basement of the Capital. Once you go through security, listen for the elevator on your right. Once you are in the basement you will be sure to hear us. After this, our appointments will begin.

>From Donald Porterfield: Lunch will also be available in the Capitol Deli.  The BEP operator of the deli has offered our group a price of $9.00 (tax not included) for a choice of ham with Swiss, turkey with provolone, and vegetarian with American. All sandwiches come with chips, cookies, lettuce and tomato and a bottle of water.
Please check in at our information desk which will be located within the entrance of the cafeteria in the foyer area before going to any appointments. In order to make sure we are going to our appointments at the same time, each district will have a leader. Please do not leave without your leader and group. 

The East Valley districts and appointments are below. If you do not know what your district is, please go to: Find My Legislator - Arizona Legislature and follow the directions.
  
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Find My Legislator - Arizona Legislature
 How do I find or contact my Legislator? If you know your legislators, click here. If you do not know your legisl...  |  |

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There will be two sets of numbers. The first will be your congressional district. The second number is your legislative district. This is the number you will need to know. I have taken the liberty of looking up members that have shown an interest in possibly coming to the capital tomorrow.
Districts And Appointments Times:
District 16:
Constituents:
10am: Representative Douglas Coleman3pm: Representative Kelly Townsend1:15pm: Senator David Farnsworth
District 17:
Constituents:
No appointments as of yet.
District 18:
Constituents: 
Debra Smith Jane Morrissey Sharonda Greenlaw Vicki McDaniel Damian Gudino
11am: Representative Mitzi Epstein1pm: Representative Jill Norgard10:45am: Senator Sean Bowie
District 23
Constituents:
2:30pm Senator John Kavanagh
District 24
Constituents
Jenny kasl
10:30AM: Sen Katie Hobbs 11:30am: Reps Lela Alston and Ken Clark together, Room 330
District 25
Constituents:
Kaila AllenMegan HomrighausenMary HartleJustin Hughes
4pm Senator Bob Worsley
District 26
Constituents
Bryan DuarteLaDonna DerocherMichael BirenbaumTony SohlTina SohlJordan Moon
3:30PM: Reps Isela Blanc and Athena Salman 
10am Senator Juan Mendez

Our three legislative priorities for 2017 are:
·        The Rights of Blind People to Parent Their Own Children·        Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education, and·        Funding for Support Service Providers for the Deaf/Blind
Talking Points:
Please study over our talking points tonight to familiarize yourselves with each issue.
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF ARIZONAPHOENIX SEMINARMonday, February 27, 2017 The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the oldest andlargest nationwide organization of blind people. We represent the collectiveviews of blind people throughout the state of Arizona. All of our leaders andthe vast majority of our members are blind, but anyone can participate in ourmovement. The NFBA’s legislative priorities are: BlindParents Right to Parent   
   - To enact legislation that prohibits discrimination against the blind in guardianship, adoption, custody or visitation proceedings.
   - Prohibits a court, when making a disposition on guardianship, custody or visitation proceedings, from solely considering the blindness of a child’s parent, guardian, or custodian; 
   - Prohibits local department of social services, a guardian, or a child placement agency from withholding consent to an adoption solely because a prospective adoptive parent is blind; 
   - Prohibits a court from denying an adoption petition solely because the petitioner is blind; 
   - Requires the Social Services Administration to adopt regulations prohibiting a local department from taking actions solely because a child’s parent or guardian is blind.
We are asking that the legislature adopt andpass the NFB’s model legislation.  In thealternative, we are asking that they adopt and pass a joint legislativeresolution urging Arizona’s courts and administrative agencies to not considerblindness when making decisions about parental rights.
AccessibleInstructional Materials in Higher Education·       Electronicinstructional materials have replaced traditional methods of learning inpostsecondary education, but the overwhelming majority of e-books, courseware,web content, and other technology are inaccessible to students with printdisabilities. The law requires equal access in the classroom but fails toprovide direction to schools for how that applies to technology.  The NFBA is seeking legislation that wouldrequire colleges, universities and institutions of higher education to purchaseonly electronic and digital instructional materials that are accessible topeople who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled.  This would reduce schools exposure tolitigation. ·       Collegesand universities are required under Titles II and III of the Americans withDisabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to provide equalaccess to students with disabilities ·      Legislation, if enacted, does notrequire retrofitting.  Remember: schoolsare currently required to use accessible materials, and will be required to doso whether the state passes legislation or not. If a school needs to retrofitits materials or revise its procurement policies, it is because it is notcomplying with that requirement. The mandate to use materials that areaccessible to students with disabilities, or provide accommodations tofacilitate equivalent access, is not altered, strengthened, or removed by thelegislation we are proposing. ·      This legislation will help ensurethat schools do not violate existing mandates. It will transfer the responsibility of making technology accessible tothe manufacturer.  Hopefully, this willeliminate the need to retrofit technology and reduce the number ofaccommodations schools are now making in order to comply with the existingmandates. ·      By purchasing accessibletechnology, the time blind, visually impaired and print disabled students arenow waiting to gain access to course materials will be eliminated; thusenabling schools to comply with existing mandates and avoid expensivelitigation. ·      There are multiple examples thatdemonstrate that any and all learning platforms can be made to be equal andaccessible for non-print readers built in to the packages with little to nocost. We are asking members of the legislation toadopt and pass a joint legislative resolution urging Arizona’s members of theUnited States Senate and House of Representatives to support the federallegislation. Specialized Services for Persons with CombinedVision and Hearing Loss·      The National Federation of the Blind of Arizonais seeking your assistance by supporting the Governor’s budget proposal toallow The Arizona Commission on the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing to utilize$192,000.00 from the telephone taxes collected to provide specialized servicesto a growing population of persons with both vision and hearing loss.·      NoAdditional Funds Are Being Requested For The General Funds Budget. ·      People with combined vision and hearing lossoften need a Support Service Provider (SSP) to assist in performing task theyare unable to do as a result of the unique combination of the dual sensoryloss.  Tasks such as going to medicalappointments; shopping for groceries; conducting banking transactions; andinteracting with staff at various other community places are examples of workperformed by a Support Service Provider. ·      Who are Support Service Providers? ·      A support service provider is someone who istrained and qualified to meet the unique needs of persons with dual sensoryloss.  Support Service providers havetraining to communicate with Deaf/Blind persons using tactile signlanguage.  They also have training toguide a person with the dual sensory loss both indoors and out in thecommunity, since independent travel is not always possible. ·      SSPs give persons with combined vision andhearing loss environmental information, and visual information in addition toassistance with communicating with sighted/hearing persons.  ·      The funds requested under the Governor’s budgetwould be used to augment existing SSP services in the Phoenix Valley andTucson.  Currently, existing SSP servicesare funded through small grants and fundraisers.  These programs exhaust their SSP servicebudgets before the end of the fiscal year, thus leaving Deaf/Blind individualsto fend for themselves. ·      The American Community Survey, conducted aspart of the decennial national census found that over 48,400 persons withcombined vision and hearing loss live in Arizona. The results of a needsassessment of Deaf/Blind persons, conducted by the Rehabilitation ServicesAdministration, Arizona Department of Economic Security, showed that thelargest demographic of persons with combined vision and hearing loss are in the70 and 80 year old age groups. ·      The Arizona Commission on the Deaf and the Hardof Hearing would provide $192,000 from the telephone tax allocated to ACDHH toaugment existing programs that serve the Phoenix Valley and Tucson.   Here, we are asking members of the legislatureto support the governor’s budget, which allocates a portion of the telephonetax to cover support services for persons who are Deaf/Blind. For additional information please contact: Donald Porterfield, Esq.PresidentNational Federation of the Blindof Arizonadonaldpfield at cox.net520-850-2180 The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is notthe characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise theexpectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles betweenblind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is notwhat holds you back.
Sincerely, 
Megan Homrighausen 
East Valley Chapter President
National Federation Of The Blind Of Arizona   
480-510-6196

National Federation Of The Blind Principles

1. Itis respectable to be blind. It’s okay to be blind. Being blind issomething that we need not feel troubled or embarrassed about, concerned aboutor emotionally exhausted over. It’s okay to be blind.
2. The real problem of blindness is not the absence of vision but isthe social misconceptions and stereotypes that exist about blindness. It is not the physical absence of eye sight but it is what society has come tobelieve about our blindness. We reject the misconceptions that society has andwe accept that the physical absence of our sight is not the big problem.
3. With proper training and opportunity the average blind person cando the average job in the average place of work.
4. Blindnessis simply one of many human characteristics, like being tall or being short,being big or small, being bright or average. Blindness is simply one of many
characteristics.
5. Blindnesscan be reduced to the level of an inconvenience or physical nuisance. 
6. Webelieve in the effectiveness of alternative non visual techniques.
7. Ifwe want equal rights we need to accept equal responsibility.
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