[NFBMO] Blind Pension Legislation

GeneCoulter at Charter.net GeneCoulter at Charter.net
Thu May 24 00:35:28 UTC 2018 

We did not know this bill would be submitted before it was as it was
proposed by DSS. We were engaged as soon as it was filed. Thanks to the
efforts of blind consumers there were several changes made to this bill
before it was passed including raising the poverty limit for the sighted
spouse to 500% from 300%. We talked to each and every legislator and
were part of negotiations to try and amend it. 
I believe we handled this as proactively as we could as one cannot
anticipate a bill such as this coming out of left field.
All we can do now that the bill will surely be signed by the governor is
make sure folks are aware of the new rules and monitor DSS with regard
to it's provisions particularly the  calculation provisions.
What we can do in the future, is what we did this time, keep a close eye
on the bills filed  and react as quickly as is possible and if we hear
wind of a potential bill we should contact those responsible to find out
what the bill will do. This includes everyone reading this post.
Gene

 


-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMO <nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Fred Olver via NFBMO
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2018 2:40 PM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Fred Olver <fredolver at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBMO] Blind Pension Legislation

Although I am a little reluctant to comment, it seems to me that we are
closing the barn door after the horse has already left so to speak. It
seems to me that some questions that need to be asked our one what input
did this organization have when it comes to the development and or
response to this bill, two, what effort was made to expose legislate
tors to the faults with this bill and three what can we do now that the
bill has already passed and a fourth question might be what can we do
the next time a situation like this or similar comes up with regard to
the state legislate tors. Fred Olver

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 23, 2018, at 2:22 PM, Coccovizzo,Linda A via NFBMO
<nfbmo at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> It's frustrating, because the rules for blind pension aren't always
easy to find, and they are somewhat vague. I think part of the idea
behind creating this bill was to take some of that vagueness out of the
rules. However, for me, it really created more questions than answers. I
read the final bill, but as far as I know, there really isn't anything
that describes a household when it comes to the poverty level. Someone
correct me if I am wrong, but the wording seems to give FSD the ability
to choose whether they want to count all of the members of the family,
or just the spouse and the recipient. Also, there is that part that
leaves things open for them to interpret the numbers as they wish, with
no reprocussions, because the bill says they can. And then, is it
$20,000, or $30,000 that is allowed for property. It should be one or
the other, but the way it reads, decisions can be made on an individual
basis, and that doesn't make sense to me. It was FSD who took the
fraudulent applications and approved them. It is also FSD who brought
this bill to the house. It isn't our fault that they allowed people with
drivers licenses to slip through the cracks, or those who have more
vision than the rules allow. It also wasn't our fault that the funds
were mishandled so many years ago.
> 
> When I met with my legislators, I made sure to mention the things
about the bill that I agreed with. Of course people who are blind enough
to be eligible to receive blind pension shouldn't have drivers licenses,
and if they receive the blind pension, they have definitely been
considered blind enough not to be able to drive. That should be obvious
enough not to have to put it into a bill, but apparently it wasn't. I
like the fact that recipients can have ABLE accounts up to $100,000.
That puts Missouri's blind up to speed with disabled Missourians who
receive benefits. I find it interesting that the ABLE accounts for blind
pension recipients was at one time a separate billfor 2018, and was then
rolled into this bill. Kind of a double-edge. The increase in property
allowance is good, but again, I'm unsure whether $20,000 or 30,000 is
allowed.
> Do recipients assume it's $30,000, and then find out they were over
the limit when it's too late?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMO <nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Gene Coulter via 
> NFBMO
> Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2018 1:28 PM
> To: 'NFB of Missouri Mailing List' <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: GeneCoulter at Charter.net
> Subject: Re: [NFBMO] Blind Pension Legislation
> 
> Increases, if they happen, occur annually in July with letters being
sent out in mid-June.  These letters should be kept , at least, until
the next letter adjusting  your benefit amount is received so that you
have proof of income for loan applications or other purposes. 
> To Brian's prior query  if you submit a driver's license as proof of
identity under the new law they will reject or close your case.
> Evidently FSD can look up driver's license records to determine
whether you have a non-driver's license or driver's license or both if
they suspect fraud. 
> Gene
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMO <nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Julie McGinnity 
> via NFBMO
> Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2018 12:54 AM
> To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Julie McGinnity <kaybaycar at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NFBMO] Blind Pension Legislation
> 
> How often do they change the amount of blind pension?
> 
> I agree with Randy that the problem is we have laws no one takes the
time to enforce.  It's the same with the service animal laws we have put
in place.  Businesses don't know their rights, so we have fake service
animals all over the place.  But yeah, we were talking about blind
pension...  Even before we practice our little elevator speeches, we
need to figure out what we would like to say.
> 
> I had to educate myself quickly about blind pension and fear I still
don't know everything.  It seems to me that we should all be on the same
page regarding what we want to protect and what we can let go.  I think
the driver's license rule is a little overkill, but their sighted spouse
requirements seem to, like Gary said, prevent integration or promulgate
the idea that our sighted spouses (but not our blind ones) can take care
of us.  What's clear to me is that blind/disabled people don't write
these laws or design the systems that many of us live on.  There's
something wrong with that.  Ok, so we don't hold the purse strings as it
were, but we are citizens who should not be punished for being disabled.
> SSI discourages people from saving, unless you want to save for
something very specific.  And now we're talking marriage and the
disadvantages to marrying as blind or blind and sighted couples...  It
seems to me that we should be discussing these things more often and
coming up with those elevator speeches Gary mentioned.  We can't change
these things unless we have a collective voice.
> 
> Julie
> 
> 
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>> On 5/22/18, Gary Wunder via NFBMO <nfbmo at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> I think there are significant philosophical implications we should 
>> think about with regard to the blind pension and especially the 
>> changes. If you are a blind person who cannot work, your situation is

>> made even more desperate in your family by the fact that to that 
>> family unit you are a taker rather than a giver. I believe in 
>> marriage, and I think most Missourians do as well. But the fact of 
>> the
> 
>> matter is that it has been clearly demonstrated with seniors and
>> others: if you put me at an economic hardship, I will stay married in

>> the eyes of God, but I may seriously consider the legal arrangement 
>> that says I'm married. Ask recipients of SSI.
>> Ask recipients of pensions that say they are entitled until they
> remarry.
>> 
>> Under the blind pension law, as it exists now and as it exists when 
>> the governor signs it, sighted people are placed at a economic 
>> disadvantage when marrying blind people. Blind people are placed at 
>> risk by marrying sighted people. This is not the kind of integration 
>> I
> 
>> want. I'm glad that the earnings of blind people remain exempt, but I

>> can't say there is any fairness in this, and as for the dignity of 
>> blind people, I think it is considered not at all in the law and in 
>> this legislation.
>> 
>> I think that we better be preparing arguments about keeping the 
>> medical benefits that blind people receive. That issue appears to 
>> have
> 
>> gone away, but it was not terribly unpopular when it was proposed. We

>> need to work on language that is persuasive and concise. Very often 
>> when people speak of spin, they do so in a negative context, but spin

>> can be very effective and it has a purpose. When you deal with busy 
>> people, you better be able to state your issue clearly and concisely.
>> They don't have all day to listen to your concerns. The spin must be 
>> honest, but we should figure out how to positively get that message 
>> out in a form that is easily repeatable, easily understood, and 
>> completely verifiable. Our credibility is everything. If we can't 
>> figure out ways to communicate our message in an elevator speech, we 
>> are headed for the basement.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> 
> 
> 
> --
> Julie A. McGinnity
> President, National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division,
Second Vice President, National Federation of the Blind of Missouri "For
we walk by faith, not by sight"
> 2 Cor. 7
> 
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