[NFBMT] Resolutions 2024

[BRUCE&JOY BRESLAUER]

Hi, everyone.

 

Are you getting excited for our convention this week end? I am. 

 

For those of you who have trouble with attachments, I am pasting below for
your convenience the proposed resolutions for 2024 that we will vote on at
convention.

 

Resolution 2024-01 Regarding the Establishment of Legislation for Penalties
and Restitution for 

Harming a Service Animal 

WHEREAS, service animals are used by many people in Montana with
disabilities; and 

WHEREAS, It takes time, patience, and money to breed a service animal, to
train a service animal 

and train a handler, to match a service animal with a handler, and to let
their essential and unique 

partnership mature into an experienced working team which may be called upon
to face life-and-

death situations; and 

WHEREAS, Data from guide dog schools has shown that 44% of guide dogs have
experienced at 

least one dog attack, and that 89% of guide dog users have experienced
interference with or injury 

to their guide dog from an unleashed, loose, or aggressive dog while in the
performance of its duties 

in a public space; and 

WHEREAS, Statistics from guide dog schools have shown that, although the
frequency of dog 

attacks has remained relatively constant over the past five years, there has
been an escalation in 

the severity of dog attacks and the need for emergency veterinary care for
the injured service 

animal; and 

WHEREAS, Any harm done to a service animal by any person or any dog owned,
harbored, or 

controlled by any person can have a very devastating and detrimental
lifelong impact on both the 

service animal and the handler, including injury or death to the service
animal, the cost of 

veterinary care, retraining or replacing the service animal, emotional
trauma for both the service 

animal and the handler, and lost wages for the handler; and 

WHEREAS, Although Montana law affirms the right of a person with a
disability to use a service 

animal, it does not establish legal penalties or restitution for the tragic
and costly consequences of 

intentional or unintentional harm done to such an animal by any person or
any dog owned, 

harbored, or controlled by any person; and 

WHEREAS, 47 states have adopted laws which provide for civil and criminal
penalties and 

restitution for the theft, injury or death of a service animal caused by any
person or by a loose or 

aggressive dog: NOW, THEREFORE, 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled on 

this 28th day of September, 2024, in the city of Missoula, Montana, that
this organization educate 

law enforcement officers and animal control personnel about the detrimental
effects of an attack 

on a service animal; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call for the adoption of a law
in Montana which 

establishes civil and criminal penalties for any person who causes -- or
owns a dog which causes -- 

intentional or unintentional harm to a service animal, and provides for
restitution to the owner of a 

service animal.

 

Resolution 2024-02 Regarding the Use of the Electronic Ballot Return System
by Blind Voters in 

Montana 

WHEREAS The ability to cast a secret ballot privately, independently, and
securely is a cornerstone 

of our democracy; and 

WHEREAS The Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990, (ADA), and 

many other CIVIL rights laws affirm that voters with disabilities should
have the same opportunities 

to exercise their right to vote as do voters without disabilities; and 

WHEREAS Montana online voting cannot be used by the blind without sighted
assistance, since it 

requires the voter to print out, sign, date, fold, and mail the ballot to
the county elections office; and 

WHEREAS Many blind voters and disability rights groups have sued states over
the inability to return 

ballots electronically; and 

WHEREAS Partly as a result of these lawsuits, blind voters in 13 states are
now able to return their 

ballots electronically; and 

WHEREAS More than half the states in the U.S. allow federal military and
overseas voters to return 

their ballots electronically via email, fax, or a secure online portal; and 

WHEREAS, Federal military and overseas voters from Montana have the ability
to return ballots 

electronically, but blind Montana voters do not: NOW, THEREFORE, 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled this 

28th day of September, 2024, in the city of Missoula, Montana, that this
organization call upon the 

Montana state government to require that the same electronic ballot return
option used by federal 

military and overseas voters be made available to blind Montana voters, as
is required by federal 

law.

 

Resolution 2024-03: Regarding the Adoption of the Medical Device Nonvisual
Accessibility Act 

WHEREAS, an increasing number of medical devices are being developed that
provide individuals 

with the ability to practice independent self-care at home, leading to
better health outcomes for 

individuals; and 

WHEREAS, home healthcare is also a cost-effective alternative to
hospitalization which saves both 

Medicare and taxpayers money; and 

WHEREAS, most medical device manufacturers are not working to integrate
nonvisual accessibility 

features into the design and development of these medical devices, leaving
far too many of them 

inaccessible to blind individuals; and 

WHEREAS, many of these inaccessible devices-such as insulin pumps, home
dialysis machines, 

and chemotherapy machines-are used to assist those with critical healthcare
concerns, putting 

the health, safety, and independence of many blind Montanans in imminent
danger; and 

WHEREAS, accessibility is relatively easy and inexpensive to implement when
it is incorporated in 

the design of a product from the outset and results in a product with a
multimodal interface that is 

more useable by everyone: NOW, THEREFORE, 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled this 

28th day of September, 2024, in the City of Missoula, Montana, that this
organization call upon 

Montana's members of the United States Congress to cosponsor the Medical
Device Nonvisual 

Accessibility Act, so that blind Montanans can benefit from the improved
quality of healthcare and 

cost-effective alternatives to hospitalization that accessible medical
devices will offer.

 

Resolution 2024-04 Resolution Calling for a Shared Convention Day Between
the National 

Federation of the Blind and the Montana Association for the Blind 

WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the Montana
Association for the Blind 

(MAB) are both organizations committed to advocating for and improving the
lives of Montanans 

who are blind; and 

WHEREAS, the blind community of Montana benefits the most when the
organizations collaborate 

to raise expectations for the blind and to advocate that blind people may
live the lives we want; and 

WHEREAS, a joint convention day to discuss topics of importance to blind
Montanans would 

strengthen our advocacy through collaboration: NOW, THEREFORE, 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled this 

28th day of September, 2024, in the city of Missoula, Montana, that the
National Federation of the 

Blind invite the Montana Association for the Blind to share a convention day
during our 2025 

Conventions.

 

Resolution 2024-05 Regarding the Websites and Software Application
Accessibility Act (H.R. 5813-

S. 2984 

WHEREAS The use of websites and mobile applications is an essential part of
everyday modern life 

for most Montanans; and 

WHEREAS Millions of Americans access websites and mobile applications every
day, assuming 

they will work flawlessly for them; and 

WHEREAS Montanans with disabilities often experience unnecessary
accessibility barriers when 

accessing websites or mobile applications; and 

WHEREAS Although businesses are required by law to make their websites and
mobile applications 

accessible for people with disabilities, they have an insufficient legal
standardized definition of 

what "accessible" actually means or how to achieve it; and 

WHEREAS Businesses often employ third-party developers to design and build
their websites, 

leaving themselves vulnerable to legal action taken by blind and disabled
consumers who are 

unable to access their websites; and 

WHEREAS The passage of the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility
Act will, among 

other things: 

Establish a comprehensive statutory definition for accessibility of websites
and software 

applications; 

Protect small businesses by holding third-party developers accountable for
their efforts to make 

websites and mobile applications accessible; 

Establish a national center to provide technical assistance to covered
entities, commercial 

providers, and individuals with disabilities. 

Direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) to 

promulgate accessibility regulations; and 

End website and mobile application inaccessibility for Americans, including
Montanans, with 

disabilities: NOW, THEREFORE, 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled this 

28th day of September, 2024, in the city of Missoula, Montana, that this
organization most strongly 

urge our state's members of the U.S. Congress to cosponsor H.R. 5813 or S.
2984.

 

Resolution 2024-06 Regarding the Blind Americans Return to Work Act 

WHEREAS Current Social Security law has the unintended consequence of
holding back blind 

Americans from achieving their full earnings potential; and 

WHEREAS Title II of the Social Security Act provides that Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) 

benefits paid to blind beneficiaries are eliminated if the beneficiary
exceeds a monthly earnings 

limit; and 

WHEREAS This "earnings cliff" is, in effect, a penalty imposed on blind
Americans who work and 

exceed, even by just one dollar, the earnings limit, at which point they are
engaged in substantial 

gainful activity (SGA); and 

WHEREAS Under the current law, any individual engaged in SGA is not entitled
to any SSDI benefits, 

which incentivizes blind people to choose to remain unemployed or
underemployed, despite their 

desire to work; and 

WHEREAS, In addition, under the current SSDI program, if a blind worker
wants to try to earn more 

money, they will likely trigger a nine-month trial work period; and 

WHEREAS When all of those nine months are exhausted, the worker is once
again subject to the 

earnings cliff if they cross the SGA threshold; and 

WHEREAS Although this is supposed to act as an incentive for blind
recipients to determine if they 

are ready to work, the complexity of the rules and the difference between
the trial work period 

amount and the SGA threshold amount results in many blind Americans avoiding
the process 

altogether; and 

WHEREAS The Blind Americans Return to Work Act will: 

Eliminate the earnings cliff by instituting a ten-year pilot program
establishing a gradual two-for-one 

phase-out of SSDI benefits with earnings over the SGA limit; 

Create a genuine work incentive for SSDI recipients. 

Incentivize more workers to pay into the Social Security Trust Fund rather
than drawing from it. 

Eliminate the trial work period and grace period, making the rules more
compatible with the 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program: NOW, THEREFORE, 

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in
convention assembled this 

28th day of September, 2024, in the city of Missoula, Montana, that this
organization very strongly 

urge our state's members of the U.S. Congress to cosponsor the Blind
Americans Return to Work 

Act.

 

 

 

 

 

Joy Breslauer, First Vice President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana 

 

Live the life you want

 

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want.