[Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million

Dewey Bradley dewey.bradley at mchsi.com
Mon Apr 5 03:04:32 UTC 2010


We do have a 151 million  budget shortfall for next year, so you never know 
what will happen.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eugene Coulter" <escoulter at centurytel.net>
To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 9:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Judge finds blind people owed 30 million


> 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.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Nfbmo mailing list
>>>>>>> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
>>>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
>>>>>>> for Nfbmo:
>>>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/dewey.bradley%40mchsi.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Nfbmo mailing list
>>>>>> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
>>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>>>> Nfbmo:
>>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/b.schulz%40sbcglobal.net
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Nfbmo mailing list
>>>>> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>>> Nfbmo:
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/dewey.bradley%40mchsi.com
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Nfbmo mailing list
>>>> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> Nfbmo:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/b.schulz%40sbcglobal.net
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nfbmo mailing list
>>> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>> Nfbmo:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/dewey.bradley%40mchsi.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfbmo mailing list
>> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> Nfbmo:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/escoulter%40centurytel.net
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfbmo mailing list
> Nfbmo at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmo_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Nfbmo:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmo_nfbnet.org/dewey.bradley%40mchsi.com 





More information about the NFBMO mailing list