[Nfbc-info] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - December 13, 2017

Shannon Dillon shannonldillon at gmail.com
Fri Dec 15 23:39:16 UTC 2017


Please see John Pare's message below.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List" <nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 16:59:44 -0600
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - December 13, 2017
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org


Dear Fellow Federationists:

Good news! The Accessible Instructional Materials
in Higher Education (Aim High) Act has been
incorporated into the Promoting Real Opportunity,
Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform
(PROSPER) Act (H.R. 4508). We anticipate the
PROSPER Act will be passed by the House Committee
on Education and the Workforce this week.

In other news, the conference committee for the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act continues to negotiate this
bill. There is still a possibility that the
Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA) could
be merged into the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Along
with your calls, we have had several meetings
with members of the conference committee. We also
know that Congressman Young and Senator Boozman,
the corresponding House and Senate bill sponsors,
are working hard to promote these bills.

Currently, the Access Technology Affordability
Act has eighteen cosponsors in the House (H.R.
1734) and four cosponsors in the Senate (S. 732).
The Senate version of the Aim High Act (S. 2138) has one cosponsor.

We need to continue our final 2017 surge on these
two items. So please make three phone calls or
send three emails. Please contact your two
senators and urge them to cosponsor both the Aim
High Act (S. 2138) and the Access Technology Affordability Act (S. 732).

Please also contact your representative and urge
him or her to cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 1734).

When you call or email your senators, you might
say something like the following:

“Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a
constituent of [your senator. I live in [city,
state]. I am calling to urge [your senator] to
cosponsor S. 732, the Access Technology
Affordability Act. This bill would increase the
availability of access technology, thereby
increasing educational and employment
opportunities for all blind Americans. The bill
does this by creating a tax credit for the
purchase of access technology. The National
Federation of the Blind has analyzed the cost
impact and the bill is either cost neutral or
will save the government money. I also urge [your
senator] to cosponsor the Accessible
instructional Materials in Higher Education Act,
S. 2138. This bill will foster the creation of
guidelines for accessible instructional material
in higher education. I urge [your senator] to
cosponsor both of these bills. Thanks.”

When you call your representative, you might say something like this:
“Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a
constituent of [your representative]. I live in
[city, state]. I am calling to urge [your
representative] to cosponsor H.R. 1734, the
Access Technology Affordability Act. This bill
would increase the availability of access
technology thereby increasing educational and
employment opportunities for all blind Americans.
The bill does this by creating a tax credit for
the purchase of access technology. The National
Federation of the Blind has analyzed the cost
impact and the bill is either cost neutral or
will save the government money. I urge [your
representative] to cosponsor the bill. Thanks.”

Also, please check the list at the end of this
email for the current list of Senate and House
cosponsors. You do not need to call anyone on
this list, unless you would like to call them and
thank them for their cosponsorship.

If you are in a meeting, you will want to go into
more detail but general calls and emails do not
have to be very long. The key points to mention:
the bill number, that you are a constituent, and
that you urge the member of Congress to cosponsor the legislation.

You can contact your member of Congress by
calling the Capitol Switchboard and asking for
the office in question. The number is (202)
224-3121. If you email your representative or
senators, please copy me at <mailto:JPare at nfb.org>JPare at nfb.org.

It is critical that we move on this quickly, so
please strive to make your calls and send your emails as soon as possible.

Warm regards,

John

John Paré
(410) 659-9314 x 2218
National Federation of the Blind

Senate ATAA Cosponsor List:
Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] - Sponsor
Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]

Senate AIM HIGH Cosponsor List:
Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] - Sponsor

House ATAA Cosponsor List:
Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12]
Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1]
Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7]
Rep. Demings, Val Butler [D-FL-10]
Rep. Hanabusa, Colleen [D-HI-1]
Rep. Kihuen, Ruben J. [D-NV-4]
Rep. Lawson, Al, Jr. [D-FL-5]
Rep. Lujan, Ben Ray [D-NM-3]
Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6]
Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5]
Rep. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV-3]
Rep. Roybal-Allard, Lucille [D-CA-40]
Rep. Ryan, Tim [D-OH-13]
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
Rep. Sinema, Kyrsten [D-AZ-9]
Rep. Smucker, Lloyd [R-PA-16]
Rep. Young, David [R-IA-3] - Sponsor
Rep. Young, Don [R-AK-At Large]

John G. Paré Jr.
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, extension 2218 | <mailto:Jpare at nfb.org>Jpare at nfb.org


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SHANNON L. DILLON




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