[NFBMT] Action Requested

[president at nfbofmt.org]

Hi All,

Please consider sending a message to the House Appropriations Committee
asking them to restore position cuts in Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind
Services.  The Committee will make its decisions quickly, so please take
action right away.  In a couple of days, it won't matter because the
decisions will be made.

The Joint Appropriations Subcommittee for Health and Human Services made a
decision to cut vacant positions from the Department of Public Health and
Human Services.  They did not pick certain positions.  Instead, they
established an arbitrary cut-off based on how long a position was vacant.
The idea was, if we have not needed the position for a couple of years, then
it's time to let the position go.  The trouble with this over-simplification
is that DPHHS froze hiring for Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind Services
over two years ago as an attempt to manage budget shortfalls.  The freeze
was never meant to be permanent, and going forward without vital positions
is not sustainable.  The work never went away.  Rather, potential clients
have been placed on wait lists, and there is still not enough staff nor
money to meet everyone's vocational rehabilitation and independent living
goals.  Losing the staff positions would damage services beyond tolerance.

To let the House Appropriations Committee know your opinion on the
controversial decision to cut Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind Services
staff positions, fill out the form at the link below.  Please note you can
choose to send a single message to a whole committee.  Again, this time,
it's House Appropriations, and the bill is the main funding bill for state
government, HB 2.  The NFB-MT supports HB 2, but we want the position cuts
restored.  It only takes a few moments to compose and send in your
testimony.  So, here is the link, and below the link is what I just sent to
House Appropriations on HB 2.


https://leg.mt.gov/web-messaging/

>From Jim Marks to House Appropriations Committee Members:

Please restore the staff position cuts to Vocational Rehabilitation and
Blind Services.  I am a blind Montanan who received substantial services
from Blind and Low Vision Services, and I serve as the President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Montana.  Our statewide organization
advocates that blind people should live the lives we want.  Of particular
note in the proposed staff cuts are counselor and instructional staff
positions in the blind program.  Thing is, blind Montanans can go nowhere
else for services.  The only option for blind adults is Blind and Low Vision
Services.  There we learn how to use the long, white cane, to read Braille
and manage information, to cook and otherwise maintain a household, to use
assistive technologies, and to become skilled at being blind.  The
vocational rehabilitation positions far exceed administrating duties.  They
are, in fact,  the services we seek.  We need the expertise and skills the
staff have built to acquire and apply all the alternative techniques of the
blind.  Lastly, our employment hinges on these professional services.  Thank
you for not cutting these necessary staff positions.



Jim Marks
President, National Federation of the Blind of Montana
president at nfbofmt.org
(406) 438-1421