[NFBF-Melbourne] [NFBF-Jacksonville] NFB of Florida - two very important legislative meetings to be held - Wednesday, October 22nd and Tuesday, October 28th...your attendance is needed at both...please open and read...

[Andrew Rood]

I will participate in the Wednesday 7p. m. meeting.

Andy Rood

On Tue, Oct 21, 2025, 8:21 AM Russ Davis via NFBF-Jacksonville <
nfbf-jacksonville at nfbnet.org> wrote:

>
>
> Good morning, Federation family,
>
>
>
> October is turning out to be an extremely busy month in terms of
> legislative advocacy. We met in person during our NFB of Florida Affiliate
> convention in Altamonte Springs on October 5th and had a terrific
> discussion with one another. Wee had over 30 convention attendees present
> for the meeting and to all of you who took time out of your busy schedules
> to attend, I am truly grateful.
>
>
>
> Some extremely important issues have developed since convention, and we
> all need to work together to address them immediately. This email will
> provide information about an urgent legislative concerns and advocacy
> meeting that we will hold tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM and about a follow-up
> meeting to be held on Zoom on Tuesday, October 28th at 8:00 PM. Please
> try and make time for both meetings if you can.
>
>
>
> Last evening President Riccobono convened a meeting of Legislative
> Directors and Affiliate Presidents. Both Camille Tate and I were in
> attendance. I noted that nearly 90 Federationists from around the country
> were also present. To lessen my tendency of being redundant, below I’m
> going to paste an excerpt from a legislative/news alert released by the
> National Federation of the Blind on October 14th. This alert was sent out
> via our national email list serve last week and so, perhaps you have seen
> it recently. The message contained in the alert will highlight the reason
> why President Riccobono felt compelled to gather with Affiliate Presidents
> and Legislative Directors last night.
>
>
>
> “News alert affecting blind people: Most federal employees within the
> Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services received Reduction
> in Force notices last Friday.
>
> If not reversed, this action will severely undermine the Department of
> Education’s ability to carry out its legal responsibilities under the
> Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Rehabilitation Act of
> 1973, and the Randolph-Sheppard Act. These laws ensure that blind children
> receive Braille and other essential educational services, that blind adults
> receive the training necessary for competitive employment, and that blind
> entrepreneurs have opportunities to operate businesses on federal
> properties.
>
> We call upon the Department of Education to immediately rescind this
> reduction in force.”
>
>
>
> We believe that simply calling on the Department of Education to resend
> the RIF will not be enough. We believe that our elected officials in the US
> House of Representatives and in the US senate need to be urged to put
> pressure on the Department of Education to resend its reduction in force
> order before harm is done to the critical programs mentioned above. Florida
> has 28 US House members and 2 Senators, and we will need your help in
> trying to hold in person meetings with all of them by November 7th.
> Fortunately, at this time, the US House is not in session and so most
> Representatives are back home in district.
>
>
>
> So now, you are probably getting a good idea of why we are asking you to
> join us on such short notice. Some serious work needs to be done, and we
> know we are making a big, “ask”,  of all of you. This is a time when we as
> Federationists come together, develop a plan and tackle an extremely
> important issue.
>
>
>
> Please see below the Zoom link for the meetings being held. The link will
> be the same for both meetings.
>
> President Tate and I are looking forward to gathering with you all soon.
>
>
>
> Respectfully,
>
>
>
> Russ Davis, Legislative Director
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Florida
>
> Ph. 904-993-8433
>
>
>
> Email: russell at radiorusty.com
>
>
>
> Zoom information for calls to be held:
>
>
>
> Wednesday, October 22nd at 7:00 PM EST
>
> And
>
> Tuesday, October 28th at 8:00 PM
>
>
>
> NFBFL President Tate is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
>
>
>
> Topic: Legislative committee
>
> Join Zoom Meeting
>
> https://nfb-org.zoom.us/j/94416346364
>
>
>
> Meeting ID: 944 1634 6364
>
>
>
> ---
>
>
>
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>
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>
>
>
>
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>
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