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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Hi Friends,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Here’s an update on our Textbook Equity for Blind Students Bill.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>SB1091 was passed out of the Senate earlier this month. The House held a hearing on the Senate version of the bill, and yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee gave SB1091 a favorable report. The full House is expected to take it up on Monday evening, and a second vote will happen either Tuesday or Wednesday, assuming the first vote on the House floor is favorable. This means that this bill will hopefully pass out of both chambers by the end of the week, and we’ll head to Annapolis for a bill signing in May.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Regarding the House version, HB1076, the Senate Education, Energy, and Environment Committee has not yet scheduled it for a hearing. This is not, I’m assured, because they oppose the bill; it is instead because they are completely overloaded with legislation. The Senate has to hear the bill and get it out of Committee by this Friday for there to be enough time for the full Senate to vote on it. Nonetheless, because the House is poised to move the Senate version of the bill, having the Senate move the House version is a “nice to have” but not essential.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I’ll keep you posted as we move toward the finish line here.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='color:#1F497D'>Ronza Othman, </span></b><span style='color:#1F497D'>President<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>443-426-4110<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Pronouns: she, her, hers</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> Maryland President <<a href="mailto:president@nfbmd.org">president@nfbmd.org</a>> <br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, March 14, 2024 12:56 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'Maryland President' <<a href="mailto:president@nfbmd.org">president@nfbmd.org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Update on HB1076 / SB1091 - Textbook Equity Bill<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Federation Family,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I have an exciting update on our Textbook Equity bill. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Senate Education, Energy, and Environment Committee voted SB1091 favorably out of the Committee on Tuesday, and the full Senate took the first of two votes in favor of the bill on Wednesday. The Senate will take the second vote likely Thursday, and once they do so, assuming it passes (the Committee vote and first Senate votes were both unanimous), the bill will go to the House.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>As for HB1076, on Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee voted it out of Committee with a unanimous favorable report. The full House will vote on the bill twice, likely the first time on Thursday, and the second on Friday. Once the House votes it out, it’ll cross over to the Senate.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Once the house bill crosses to the senate and the senate bill crosses to the house, each bill will get a sponsor only hearing. Then, each committee will give the opposite chamber’s bill a report, and the houses will vote twice if the committees give favorable reports. The two bills are identical, so given that both chambers are poised to pass the bills, our chances for textbook equity for blind kids in Maryland look really promising.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>You can listen live to the Senate and House proceedings by going to:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/">https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Both chambers will gavel in at 10AM on Thursday. You can also look at the floor calendar to find our bills to get a sense of when they’ll be heard – it’ll be under Third Reader Calendar for the Senate and one of the Ways and Means calendars for the House. Both the House and Senate are dealing with the annual budget bills, so Thursday might be a really long day before they get to our bills, and they could push them to Friday.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thanks for all your hard work on this.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Ronza<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ronza Othman, </span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>President</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>443-426-4110<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Pronouns: she, her, hers<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>