[nfbmi-talk] gov snyder to revised reog of mcb

[joe harcz Comcast]

Governor  Rick Snyder to revise reorganization of services to blind

 

12:48 PM, April 23, 2012  |

Paul Egan

 

By

Paul Egan

 

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

 

 

LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder is soon expected to issue a revised executive order to reorganize services for Michigan’s blind residents after an earlier version

drew protests from advocates for the blind and a threatened lawsuit.

 

Snyder officials earlier said the executive order he issued Feb. 24 would be revised before it takes effect Tuesday, at the end of a 60-day notice period.

The new order could come today.

 

The original order, which abolished the Commission for the Blind and replaced it with an advisory committee, was criticized by advocates who said it was

developed and released without consulting blind people in Michigan.

 

There were also concerns that Snyder’s plan to move a small business program for the blind from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to the

Department of Technology, Management and Budget would result in lost federal funding.

 

Richard Bernstein, a blind Farmington Hills attorney who specializes in disability cases, said in March he was researching a possible lawsuit against the

state over the executive order.

 

Snyder said the reorganization – which would move most vocational rehabilitation services for the blind from Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to the Department

of Human Services – was intended to improve efficiencies and services.

 

The Commission for the Blind, established in 1978, served 2,750 residents during the 2010 fiscal year.

 

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or

pegan at freepress.com