[NFBF-L] Legislative update - important information inside - including notes on our next Legislative Committee meeting - date to be determined...

Wed Nov 1 15:08:20 UTC 2023

Anytime after 5 PM would work for me. And I only replied to you in regards to this email I did not reply all. I look forward to speaking with you.

Thanks,
Tekesha Saffold
Pronouns: she, her, hers
Consumer Advocate and ADA Consultant 

> On Nov 1, 2023, at 10:55 AM, Russ Davis via NFBF-L <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi there,
>  
> You’ve been on my mind, because of the wonderful efforts you are making in terms of legislation. I am proud of what you are accomplishing and grateful for your efforts.
>  
> Do you have time later this afternoon to chat on the phone? Is 4:00 PM good for you? I need to get in touch with Fabian in the Congresswoman’s Washington office to discuss the Website bill. I’ll try to reach him today.
>  
> I’ve been traveling since October 15th and won’t be back in Florida until tomorrow evening. I have been able to work from my vacation base here in Fort Worth though, so that’s been a good thing. Thank heavens for laptop computers and cell phones, lol.
>  
> Talk soon I hope,
>  
> Russ
>  
> From: NFBF-L <nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Tekesha Saffold via NFBF-L
> Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2023 9:33 AM
> To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Tekesha Saffold <tnsaffold82 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NFBF-L] Legislative update - important information inside - including notes on our next Legislative Committee meeting - date to be determined...
>  
> Greetings! I have been selective to serve on the congressional advisory board for district #20 and I have thanked the congresswomen for her support. We had our 1st meeting last Tuesday, which there are similar bills we are researching and I would like to entertain a conversation with you. Please let me know if that is possible.
> 
> Thanks,
> Tekesha Saffold
> Pronouns: she, her, hers
> Consumer Advocate and ADA Consultant 
> 
> 
> On Oct 25, 2023, at 5:48 PM, Russ Davis via NFBF-L <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello everyone,
>  
> I’m glad to be able to get this email out to you all and to have the opportunity to provide you with some important information.
>  
> So that you can plan your schedules, I wanted to let you know that we will not have a Legislative Committee meeting tomorrow evening, this would have been our normal meeting date. Our next meeting would actually fall on Thanksgiving night, so I doubt that we would be gathering then, but perhaps we can find a different date in November to come together and catch up on what’s happening in Washington and in Tallahassee.
>  
> For now, let me bring you up to speed on some important items such as the status of our legislative priorities and on the 2024 Washington Seminar.
>  
> Our Affiliate Board will be meeting soon to discuss Florida’s involvement in the upcoming Washington Seminar, which will be held during the last week of January. The first day of the important annual event will take place on Monday, January 29th. We will then set out to meet with staff for our 28 House members and 2 Senators over several days beginning on Tuesday, January 30th. In the past, Florida has sent around a dozen Affiliate members on this trip, but I highly suspect  that we will not be able to expend the money it takes to send that many people this coming year. If I had to guess, (prior to the Board actually meeting), we are probably looking at sending around 8 delegates, (on the Affiliates dime). The cost of Seminar is quite substantial. We have in the past paid airline and hotel expenses, as well as a modest daily per diem. The cost of hotel rooms, (almost always rooms shared by two or more delegates), was unusually low in 2023, but has gone up significantly for 2024.
>  
> Yes, I absolutely believe that the funds spent on Washington Seminar have been, (and will continue to be), well worth it, but I also understand that we have to be  extremely responsible with our Affiliates limited financial resources.
>  
> The names of the 2024 Washington Seminar delegates from Florida have not yet been determined. Multiple factors come into play when trying to determine who would best represent the National Federation of the Blind of Florida, including, (but not limited to), clear evidence of interest in the legislative process during 2023 and a demonstration of willingness to advocate for our legislative priorities.
>  
> An understanding of math will tell you that, unfortunately, Florida cannot send a delegate from each of our 28 Congressional districts, nor can we even send a member of each of our 12 active chapters. The process of choosing delegates is a difficult one, but your Board of Directors will work hard to make sure that the members sent to Washington for this high pressure and often exhausting event will be the best ones possible.
>  
> Now let’s close out todays long email with a review of our legislative priorities. We covered these during our NFB of Florida legislative workshop held on Sunday, October 8th. Although other workshops were competing for the attention of our Convention attendees, we still had an incredible 35 interested folks with us for most of the nearly two hour session. President Mark Riccobono was one of the workshop attendees, and we were honored to have him with us.
>  
> During the workshop we reviewed the following important legislative initiatives:
>  
> The Access Technology Affordability Act
> (HR-3702) and ( S-1467).
> House co-sponsorship = 37
> Fla. Representative co-sponsorships = 8
>  
> Bilirakis – R-12
> Cherfilus-McCormick – D – 20
> Dunn – R – 2
> Lee – R – 15
> Posey – R – 8
> Rutherford – R – 5
> Salazar – R – 27
> Waltz – R – 6
>  
> Medical Device Non Visual Accessibility Act
> HR-1328
> House co-sponsorship = 49
> Fla. Representative co-sponsorships = 3
>  
> Castor – D – 14
> Cherfilus-McCormick – D – 20
> Rutherford – R – 5
>  
> Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act
> HR-5813 and S-2984
> House co-sponsorship = 2
> Fla. Representative co-sponsorships = 0
>  
> Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act
> HR - 1263 - S-533
> House co-sponsorship = 24
> Fla. Representative co-sponsorships = 1
>  
> Cherfilus-McCormick – D – 20
>  
> No Florida Senators have provided support for the above bills.
>  
> The Blind Americans Return to Work Act has not yet been introduced into the House or Senate but we are working hard to identify a lead sponsor for the bill.
>  
> As of the time of this email, the US House of Representatives has finally elected a new Speaker. While the House was without a Speaker, the legislative process in the House was nearly at a complete stand-still.  We can now confidently continue our work to gather support for the above listed initiatives from members who have not yet signed on as co-sponsors.
>  
> I encourage you to reach out to me or co-legislative director, Camille Tate, to discuss how you can seek support from your House member and from our two Senators. I will be meeting with district staff for Congressman Bean, (R – Dist. 04), in the next couple of weeks. This visit to Rep. Bean’s Jacksonville office will be an important step in building a relationship with local staff members.
>  
> I will also be researching the names of Washington DC based appointment schedulers in order to make our Washington Seminar preparation activities more effective and efficient.
>  
> I know that this email was extremely long, but I hope that you were able to get some good information from it. Thanks so much for taking the time to read through all of the information.
>  
>  
> Looking forward to having you with us on our next Legislative Committee call.
>  
> Very respectfully,
>  
> Russ Davis, Legislative Director,
> National Federation of the Blind of Florida
> Ph. 904-993-8433
> Email: russell at radiorusty.com
>  
>  
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