[nfbmi-talk] National Federation of the Blind Minutes, December 6, 2012

[Gkitchen]

Hi all,

Although, I am not a board member. I believe I can speak on some of these 
questions since I have been volunteering to coordinate Newsline since 1998. 
Thankfully, I have volunteers who assist me.
 The state of Michigan currently to my knowledge  does not have any plans to 
fund Newsline soon. That will mean anyone who is signed up will lose their 
service.  Right now as I understand from the National Office in Baltimore, 
Newsline costs roughly $80 grand to fund, that includes the  phone bill NFB 
of MI has to  pay, the NFBNewsline service as you have seen it evolve  plus 
all the materials we use including brochures, cd's, how to guides etc.   I 
will let others explain the $30 thousand cost.


Best,
Georgia
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matt Sievert" <matt.sievert at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 12:44 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] National Federation of the Blind Minutes, December 
6, 2012


>I have three (3) questions regarding the section about "Newsline"
>
> 1. So if someone signs up for Newsline, it might be discontinued soon and
> not function?
> 2. If newsline is fully funded, then only clients of the bureau will have
> access to the service, specifically for looking for a job?
> 2a. I thought the service was available for anyone who was in the state 
> and
> legally blind.
> 3. It costs $80,000 a year to run Newsline for a state, and is that an
> additionally $30,000 to promote the service? What do you mean by 
> "promote"?
> is that for brochures and other outreach material?
>
> Thank you for your time.
> Matt Sievert
>
> On Sat, Dec 15, 2012 at 8:50 PM, trising <trising at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> President's Report, Larry Posont. Newsline will soon be shut off since it
>> is not being fully funded. With the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons
>> forwarding 8.5 million last year and 6.5 million this year, there is 
>> plenty
>> of money to fund Newsline, and precedent from other states where State
>> agencies  fund Newsline. However, since Newsline is not being fully 
>> funded,
>> it will be shut off soon. When Newsline is fully funded, it can be used 
>> by
>> clients of the Bureau who are searching for jobs. Newsline should be used
>> for Rehabilitation. If you divide the cost of Newsline by the number of
>> potential subscribers, it divides out like a typical newspaper 
>> subscription
>> for each subscriber. We are seeking money from the Legislature for
>> Newsline. It costs $80,000 at a minimum to run Newsline for a 
>> state.$30,000
>> is needed per year to promote Newsline. The Federal Government has 
>> already
>> agreed that Newsline can be funded from Rehabilitation dollars.
>>
>>
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