[nfbmi-talk] important blast from past

[joe harcz Comcast]

May 2, 2006

 

 

The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm

Office of the Governor

Romney Building, 2nd Floor

Lansing, MI 48933

 

Dear Governor Granholm:

 

At our meeting held in Kalamazoo on April 24, 2006, the board of the Michigan Commission for the Blind adopted a motion in which we urge the Office of the Governor and the Legislature of the State of Michigan to deposit all of the proceeds from the sale of the former Michigan School for the Blind (MSB) property in Lansing, into the Michigan Department of Education’s School for the Blind Trust Fund which was established for the benefit of Michigan’s blind children.

 

Currently, House Bill 5354, passed by the House April 27 and awaiting action by the Senate, apportions only a minor amount to address the needs of the blind population in Michigan, and in particular its blind children.  Ms. Elizabeth Bauer, member of the Michigan State Board of Education, is in full support of the proceeds being deposited to the MSB Trust Fund and Superintendent Mike Flanagan has indicated his interest in this action.  These funds would provide urgent and long-term educational opportunities for Michigan’s blind children.  While these modest funds would mean a great deal to blind children, depositing this money in the General Fund would be of little significance to the State’s overall budget.

 

On behalf of the Michigan Commission for the Blind and the blind citizens of Michigan, we appeal to you to help direct these proceeds into the MSB Trust Fund.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Jo Ann Pilarski, Chair

Michigan Commission for the Blind

 

 

JP/tk

Cc:      Elizabeth Bauer, State Board of Education

            Patrick D. Cannon, Director, Michigan Commission for the Blind