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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Greetings all:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>So often you have heard me say that even members who do not go to Washington Seminar can still participate in and are vital to the legislative process. Now is one of those times. Please read the email below, and follow the instructions to send your comments pertaining to the payment of subminimum wages to people who are blind. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>If you have any questions, please let me know.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> National Federation of the Blind <webmaster@nfb.org> <br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 16, 2025 12:01 PM<br><b>To:</b> Kaye Baker <kaye.j.zimpher@gmail.com><br><b>Subject:</b> Legislative Alert: Time Sensitive Action Required<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr style='height:15.0pt'><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:15.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td valign=top style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=600 style='width:6.25in'><tr><td style='background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr style='height:7.5pt'><td width="100%" valign=top style='width:100.0%;background:#0075C9;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:7.5pt'><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><img width=600 height=28 style='width:6.25in;height:.2916in' id="_x0000_i1034" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/top-blue-bar.jpg"><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr style='height:7.5pt'><td width="100%" valign=top style='width:100.0%;background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:7.5pt'><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td style='padding:15.0pt 15.0pt 15.0pt 15.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/url?u=37204&qid=10892933"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=240 height=264 style='width:2.5in;height:2.75in' id="_x0000_i1033" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/nfb-logo-for-email-template.jpg" alt="National Federation of the Blind logo and tagline live the life you want"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;border-color:initial'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left width=600 style='width:6.25in'><tr style='height:15.0pt'><td width="100%" valign=top style='width:100.0%;background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:15.0pt'><h1><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Public Comment Required on Subminimum Wages</span><o:p></o:p></h1><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>On December 4, 2024, the US Department of Labor released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the phaseout of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The National Federation of the Blind fully supports this NPRM and submitted comments on Wednesday, January 15.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>The NPRM has received thousands of individual comments from those in favor of keeping subminimum wages for people with disabilities. We apologize that we did not anticipate such a substantial response from these individuals who support subminimum wages. As a result, we have an urgent request for our members to submit comments by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Friday, January 17</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>All comments are helpful even if the comment is, "I believe people with disabilities should be paid at least the minimum wage, and 14(c) certificates should be phased out.” All public comments should be submitted using the online form found at <a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/url?u=37205&qid=10892933">the Federal Register's website</a>. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>The page contains a place for you to type in your comment, and then you will need to select that you are an individual, which will bring up fields for you to type in your first and last name. You will then need to check a box acknowledging you are aware any information you provide will be publicly available on regulations.gov before clicking “submit.” </span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr style='height:6.0pt'><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:6.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;display:none'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=600 style='width:6.25in;background:#002F6D'><tr style='height:45.0pt'><td width=135 style='width:101.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/url?u=37206&qid=10892933"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.5208in;height:.3645in' id="_x0000_i1032" 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width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/url?u=37209&qid=10892933"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=51 height=35 style='width:.5312in;height:.3645in' id="_x0000_i1029" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-youtube-ms.png" alt="YouTube Logo"></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/url?u=37210&qid=10892933"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.5208in;height:.3645in' id="_x0000_i1028" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-email-ms.png" alt="Email Icon Image"></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'><a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/url?u=37211&qid=10892933"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=50 height=35 style='width:.5208in;height:.3645in' id="_x0000_i1027" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/images/iof-donte-ms.png" alt="Donate to the NFB Icon."></span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=135 style='width:101.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:45.0pt'></td></tr><tr style='height:18.75pt'><td colspan=8 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:18.75pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'>National Federation of the Blind | 200 E Wells Street | Baltimore, MD 21230 | 410-659-9314 <o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td></tr><tr style='height:18.75pt'><td colspan=8 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:18.75pt'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'><a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1&jid=24387&qid=10892933&h=c2241ecb68a8b820" title=Unsubscribe><span style='color:white'>Unsubscribe from this mailing list</span></a> | <a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1&jid=24387&qid=10892933&h=c2241ecb68a8b820" title="Opt Out"><span style='color:white'>Opt out of all mailing lists</span></a> | <a href="https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/url?u=37212&qid=10892933" title="Sign up for email newsletter"><span style='color:white'>Sign up for our newsletter</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan=8 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><div><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span class=street-address><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'>200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place</span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'><br><span class=locality>Baltimore</span><span class=adr>, </span><span class=region>MD</span><span class=adr> </span><span class=postal-code>21230</span><br><span class=country-name>United States</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white'>.. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td></tr></table></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAJEAAP///wAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAkAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAgEAAEEBAA7" width="1" height="1" alt="Web Bug from https://nfb.org/civicrm/mailing/open?qid=10892933" /></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAJEAAP///wAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAkAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAgEAAEEBAA7" width="1" height="1" alt="Web Bug from 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