[Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million

[Dewey Bradley]

Same here, I can't say that I blame them either.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bryan Schulz" <b.schulz at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million


> you want to talk hypocritical/ethics?
> i know several people who moved to mo for the bucks.
>
> Bryan Schulz
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dewey Bradley" <dewey.bradley at mchsi.com>
> To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 1:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million
>
>
>>I don't mean to be a hypocrite. But That $651 on the 10th of every month 
>>really is very helpful.
>> But we have also have people who are not disabled who can't get help like 
>> that.
>> I think that if we want to be treated like everyone else we need to act 
>> like everyone else.
>> I used to make close to 16 bucks an hour, an I took the bus for half 
>> price
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
>> To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 10:08 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million
>>
>>
>>> Can I be a "back dated" honorary Missourian?
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>> At 04:26 PM 4/2/2010, you wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Posted: Friday, 02 April 2010 12:12PM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Judge awards $30 million to blind Missourians
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>KMOXNews at kmox.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>ST. LOUIS (AP)  -- Missouri owes $30 million to 3,300 blind residents to 
>>>>make up for years of shortchanging payments to them through the Blind 
>>>>Pension Fund,
>>>>
>>>>a judge has ruled.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Cole County Judge Patricia Joyce determined the Missouri Department of 
>>>>Social Services miscalculated benefits dating to 1992. She awarded 
>>>>nearly $19 million
>>>>
>>>>in unpaid benefits and more than $11 million in interest.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>It wasn't clear Friday whether the state would appeal Thursday's 
>>>>decision. A Social Services spokesman referred questions to the Missouri 
>>>>Attorney General's
>>>>
>>>>office. A spokeswoman for the attorney general did not return messages 
>>>>seeking comment.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Pensioners were underpaid for more than a decade, said attorney Deborah 
>>>>Greider, who filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of the St. 
>>>>Louis-based Missouri
>>>>
>>>>Council of the Blind and seven blind Missourians. After the lawsuit was 
>>>>filed about five years ago, Missouri recalculated the pension and now 
>>>>pays a fair
>>>>
>>>>amount, she said.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>The average blind pensioner now receives about $651 a month from the 
>>>>state, and for many, that is their only income.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Most of these people are poor and unemployed, many are elderly," 
>>>>Greider said. She recalled testimony from one blind woman who was asked 
>>>>what an additional
>>>>
>>>>$40 a month would mean to her.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"She said, 'I could feed my guide dog better, I could get a pizza once 
>>>>in a while,'" Greider said. "It was really heartbreaking."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Denny Huff, president of the Missouri Council of the Blind, said the 
>>>>state shorted people who were already on tight budgets.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"To be denied even a percentage of what they should have been receiving 
>>>>may not seem like much to some people," he said, "but for a lot of 
>>>>recipients, it
>>>>
>>>>affected them a great deal."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>The Missouri Constitution has required the General Assembly since 1875 
>>>>to levy an annual property tax to fund the Blind Pension Fund. But 
>>>>starting in 1992,
>>>>
>>>>the state began using some of the money for other expenses, Greider 
>>>>said.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>For example, some of the money goes to rehabilitation services for the 
>>>>blind. But Greider said the pensions should be fully funded first, with 
>>>>leftover
>>>>
>>>>money going for rehab services.
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>
>
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