[Nfbc-info] FYI FW: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Legislative Update

Tue Nov 3 15:25:34 UTC 2015

Important information below. Also, congratulations to our own Lisa Irving. 

Best Regards,

Michael Hingson

From: Nfb-legislative-directors
[mailto:nfb-legislative-directors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Diggs,
Parnell via Nfb-legislative-directors
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2015 5:52 AM
To: NFB Legislative Directors List <nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org>;
State Affiliate Leadership List <state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Diggs, Parnell <PDiggs at nfb.org>
Subject: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Legislative Update

Dear Colleagues,

There has been movement regarding H.R. 188, the Transitioning to Integrated
and Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act.  Here are some facts which Rose Sloan
has put together that you should know. We are up to 48 cosponsors. We are
doing an excellent job of ensuring that the bill stays bipartisan. Of the 48
cosponsors, 20 are Republicans. To put that in perspective, we had a total
of 24 Republican cosponsors on HR 831 at the end of the last Congress. Good
work.  Extra kudos go to the following states:

California is leading the way with five cosponsors.

Illinois and New York are not far behind with four cosponsors each.

Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania all have three cosponsors.

Alaska, Puerto Rico, Wyoming, and Vermont have all of their Representatives
on HR 188.

New Hampshire and Colorado each have a senator on S. 2001.  

Rose is doing outstanding work on this initiative, but she needs our help.
When you contact your Representatives or Senators about the TIME Act, please
cc her at rsloan at nfb.org <mailto:rsloan at nfb.org> .

On Friday, Lisa Irving of California posted a blog regarding her experience
contacting her Member of Congress and ultimately securing that Member as a
cosponsor of HR 188.  For those of you looking for motivation to contact
your Members of Congress or in need of a tool to motivate more
Federationists to contact their Members of Congress, this is a great blog.
You can access Small Steps that Lead to Big Changes blog post at
<https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/small-steps-lead-big-changes>
https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/small-steps-lead-big-changes.  

I want to thank you for reaching out to your Senators on the Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2015 last week during the very small window available to us.
We had hoped to turn a good bill into a perfect bill overnight. But even
though we did not get blind work expenses and the opt-in provision inserted
into last week's budget deal, there will be other opportunities to make
additional improvements to the SSDI program very soon.

As I conclude, I note that we are four weeks away from November 30, which is
the deadline for states to designate their delegate to the Legislative
Workshop during the weekend of January 23 - 25, 2016.  This designee needs
to be able to carry the torch for your state on Capitol Hill during the
Washington Seminar. In other words, the person representing each affiliate
should feel comfortable presenting the legislative issues we will be asking
Congress to consider in the Second Session of the 114th Congress.

Please keep the phone calls and emails coming in folks. We always enjoy
hearing from you, as we work together in the continuing effort to help blind
people live the lives we want. Thanks for all you do

Parnell

Parnell Diggs, Esq.

Director of Government Affairs

National Federation of the Blind

200 East Wells Street

Baltimore, MD 21230

Office: (410) 659-9314, extension 2222

Mobile: (843) 267-2018

Email:  <mailto:pdiggs at nfb.org> pdiggs at nfb.org

Twitter: @NFB_Voice

  @ParnellDiggs

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.

 <https://nfb.org/make-gift> Make a gift to the National Federation of the
Blind and help ensure all blind Americans live the lives they want

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