[NFBC-Info] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert – 2/21/202020

[Shannon Dillon]

Hi Everyone,
Please see the message from John Pare below about contacting your
legislative representatives and senators about the legislation we
worked on this year at Washington Seminar.
Thank you.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List" <nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 14:35:27 +0000
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert – 2/21/202020
To: "nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org" <nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>

Dear Federation Family:

This year’s Washington Seminar was a great success. We had over 500
attendees from 49 states. Representative Bobby Scott, chair of the
House Committee on Education and Labor, spoke at the Great
Gathering-In. Chairman Scott is the sponsor of the Transformation to
Competitive Employment Act. Senators Ben Cardin and Bob Casey,
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Representative Mike Thompson all
spoke at our Congressional reception. Representative Mike Thompson is
the chair of the Tax Policy Subcommittee, and he is the sponsor of the
Access Technology Affordability Act.

We also had a substantial increase in the number of cosponsors for
each of our bills. In the House, the Access Technology Affordability
Act went from forty-nine to sixty-three cosponsors. And in the Senate,
it went from fifteen to seventeen cosponsors. The GAIN Act went from
four to thirteen cosponsors. Finally, AIM HIGH went from four to
twelve cosponsors in the House.

We need to keep building on the momentum generated by Washington
Seminar. Similar to what we did in the fall, we are going to focus on
our legislation one bill per week for the next several weeks. We will
begin next week by focusing on the Access Technology Affordability Act
(H.R. 2086 and S. 815).

This legislation removes an employment barrier commonly experienced by
blind Americans who cannot afford the high cost of access technology
by creating a refundable tax credit in the amount of $2,000 to offset
the cost of these technologies.

Please call your representative and two senators and urge them to
cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act if they have not
already done so. For those of you who attended Washington Seminar, you
should follow up with the staff person you met with. A complete list
of current cosponsors is included at the end of this email.

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

"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent of [your
senator/representative]. I live in [city, state]. I am calling to urge
[your senator/representative] to cosponsor [S. 815 for Senate
calls/H.R. 2086 for House calls], the Access Technology Affordability
Act. This legislation removes an employment barrier commonly
experienced by blind Americans who cannot afford the high cost of
access technology by creating a refundable tax credit in the amount of
$2,000 to offset the cost of these technologies. I urge [your
senator/representative] to cosponsor the bill.

Thanks."

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.

It is best to email the specific staff person who handles tax policy
for that member of Congress. You can typically get the name and email
address of that person by calling the office in question. You can also
email Jesa here at the NFB and she will get this information for you.
Her email is jmedders at nfb.org<mailto:jmedders at nfb.org>.
Your calls and emails do make a difference!

The goal is to get to 100 cosponsors in the House and 25 in the Senate
within the next few weeks. I am certain that if we all work together
we can reach this goal.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at
410-659-9314, extension 2218 or email me at
jpare at nfb.org<mailto:jpare at nfb.org>.

Warm regards,

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


Access Technology Affordability Act (S. 815)


1.       Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]


2.       Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]


3.       Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]


4.       Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]


5.       Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]


6.       Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK]


7.       Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]


8.       Sen. Jones, Doug [D-AL]


9.       Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]


10.   Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]


11.   Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]


12.   Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]


13.   Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL]


14.   Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]


15.   Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]


16.   Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV]


17.   Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]



Access Technology Affordability Act (H.R. 2086)


1.       Rep. Kelly, Mike [R-PA-16]*


2.       Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]


3.       Rep. Gaetz, Matt [R-FL-1]


4.       Rep. Murphy, Stephanie N. [D-FL-7]


5.       Rep. Stewart, Chris [R-UT-2]


6.       Rep. Cooper, Jim [D-TN-5]


7.       Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-13]


8.       Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1]


9.       Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-2]


10.   Rep. Visclosky, Peter J. [D-IN-1]


11.   Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-50]


12.   Rep. Upton, Fred [R-MI-6]


13.   Rep. Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [D-NJ-9]


14.   Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-4]


15.   Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-42]


16.   Rep. Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch [D-MD-2]


17.   Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3]


18.   Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5]


19.   Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]


20.   Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8]


21.   Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1]


22.   Rep. Serrano, Jose E. [D-NY-15]


23.   Rep. Gabbard, Tulsi [D-HI-2]


24.   Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]


25.   Rep. Carson, Andre [D-IN-7]


26.   Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13]


27.   Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7]


28.   Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]


29.   Rep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1]


30.   Rep. Shalala, Donna E. [D-FL-27]


31.   Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8]


32.   Rep. Suozzi, Thomas R. [D-NY-3]


33.   Rep. Garcia, Jesus G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4]


34.   Rep. Eshoo, Anna G. [D-CA-18]


35.   Rep. Crow, Jason [D-CO-6]


36.   Rep. Morelle, Joseph D. [D-NY-25]


37.   Rep. Stevens, Haley M. [D-MI-11]


38.   Rep. Aguilar, Pete [D-CA-31]


39.   Rep. Luria, Elaine G. [D-VA-2]


40.   Rep. LaHood, Darin [R-IL-18]


41.   Rep. Ryan, Tim [D-OH-13]


42.   Rep. Kirkpatrick, Ann [D-AZ-2]


43.   Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11]


44.   Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2]


45.   Rep. Lipinski, Daniel [D-IL-3]


46.   Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]


47.   Rep. Schneider, Bradley Scott [D-IL-10]


48.   Rep. Trone, David J. [D-MD-6]


49.   Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-20]


50.   Rep. Blunt Rochester, Lisa [D-DE-At Large]


51.   Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4]


52.   Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9]


53.   Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4]


54.   Rep. Sires, Albio [D-NJ-8]


55.   Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43]


56.   Rep. Stivers, Steve [R-OH-15]


57.   Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]


58.   Rep. Gohmert, Louie [R-TX-1]


59.   Rep. Rogers, Mike D. [R-AL-3]


60.   Rep. Kelly, Robin L. [D-IL-2]


61.   Rep. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ-7]


62.   Rep. Spano, Ross [R-FL-15]


63.   Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1]

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-- 
SHANNON L. DILLON
Secretary and Legislative Coordinator
National Federation of the Blind
of California
The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and
friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind.
Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they
want.
www.nfbcal.org