[Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million

Eugene Coulter escoulter at centurytel.net
Mon Apr 5 02:22:22 UTC 2010


The United States Supreme Court ruled a generation ago that residency 
requirements for any public assistance programs  this would include Blind 
Pension, are unconstitutional. The only thing that resembles a residency 
requirement is that recipients be of good moral character and prove this by 
having  two property owners in the county in which they apply  that have 
known  the blind person for at least two years attest to this.
Actually only Temporary Assistance (formerly AFDC) roles have grown slower 
than Blind Pension in the last fifteen years as Food Stamp and all types of 
Medicaid roles have  increased at a ever increasing rate. So, I don't think 
large numbers of people have flocked to Missouri just to get the pension 
(certainly there are some).
Given the circumstance of the state budget and other factors it is anybody's 
guess what will happen next in the case.  It could be quickly resolved or 
take in excess of another year before there is final action. We will know 
much more in about a month.
Gene

----- 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 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million


> They should make something like that.
> If everyone keeps coming here, there going to drain the fund.
> ----- 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 6:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million
>
>
>> maybe so but how many would have moved if you had to be a resident for at 
>> least five years to be eligible?
>> That says something about the person.
>> that's all I'll say.
>> 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 4:27 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million
>>
>>
>>> 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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