[NFBNJ] NFB President’s Notebook - week of 02/05/2018

Tue Feb 6 23:14:34 UTC 2018

Greetings to all!
At times, I forward portions of the President’s Notebook.
this week, I decided to share with all the important notices below.
We are making a difference as we raise expectations to live the life we 
want!

We care. We share. We grow. We make a difference
Joe Ruffalo, President
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey
973 743 0075
nfbnj1 at verizon.net
www.nfbnj.org
Your old car keys can be keys to literacy for the blind.
Donate your unwanted vehicle to us by clicking
www.carshelpingtheblind.org
or call 855 659 9314

***

Subject: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 02/05/2018

President’s Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org
(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

I can still feel the energy from our 2018 Washington Seminar. It was great 
to visit with so many of you. The reports of our success on the Hill are 
truly encouraging, especially those from our rookies who were visiting 
Congress or leading a delegation for the first time. Congratulations to all; 
the next phase of our advocacy work is now underway. Please follow up with 
those you had meetings with.

Special congratulations for our Iowa delegation who secured our first Senate 
cosponsor since Washington Seminar for our accessible instructional 
materials bill. Senator Ernst from Iowa joins Senator Hatch in support of 
this important legislation, and we hope that other affiliates will follow by 
securing needed support. For other cosponsor updates, read below.

It was great to have so many affiliate presidents for a thoughtful 
twenty-four hours of engagement before Washington Seminar. A number of 
follow-up items are coming your way soon, so stayed tuned. Thank you for 
your input and helping to make our organization work as well as it does.

Critical Actions This Week:
Presidential Release:
The February release is available at 
https://nfb.org/presidential-releases-en/presidential-release-469-february-2018.

News:
Service Animals:
I wanted to bring everyone up to date with where we are with regard to the 
situation with Delta and their new service animal policy. We had a 
face-to-face meeting with them in Atlanta last week and are continuing to 
negotiate. There has been some press around this issue. One story can be 
found at 
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/airplane-mode/growls-are-growing-over-delta-s-new-rules-flying-service-n841376.

And just today we put out a press release commending United Airlines for 
announcing that their policy would not change regarding travelers with dog 
guides and other service animals, as opposed to animals that may fit other 
categories.

Washington Seminar:
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week's Washington Seminar; it 
was a tremendous success. The fruits of your labor are already beginning to 
pay off. Six new cosponsors have been added to Aim High in the House and at 
least fourteen House offices and one Senate office have said that they will 
be cosponsoring the Access Technology Affordability Act. We also did a great 
job educating members of Congress about the dangerous ramifications of H.R. 
620, the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017. And to top it all off, we are 
hoping to hear substantive news regarding the Marrakesh Treaty in the next 
few weeks.

Thanks to our Florida affiliate and its strong relationship with 
Congressional offices, we were able to have Congressman Gus Bilirakis speak 
at this year's Great Gathering-In. Along with supporting our core issues, 
Congressman Bilirakis continues to champion the right of disabled veterans 
to participate in the Space Available program.

On the topic of veterans, our tactile art exhibit and reception at the 
Newseum was undoubtedly one of this year's highlights. As the first fully 
accessible photography exhibit in a major American museum, the Newseum's 
Marines and Tet exhibit displays ten of the most powerful and moving images 
of the Vietnam War in a way that can be experienced by all. If you were 
unable to visit the Newseum during your time in Washington, I highly 
encourage you to make the trip during the exhibit's run, which will conclude 
in July.

The National Federation of the Blind and Aira News:
We have negotiated a special pricing plan exclusively for NFB members. Visit 
the Aira website to learn more.

The Jernigan Institute now offers free Aira site access to any Aira Explorer 
when they are on-site. Minutes used while in the building will not be 
deducted from your plan. In addition, NFB state conventions and our national 
convention will be Aira “pop-up” site access locations in 2018 and 2019. 
This means that for specific dates at convention locations, access will be 
free and time using an Aira agent will not be deducted from your monthly 
plan. Stay tuned for more information and details as they become available 
for a location near you.

Attention Blind and Low-Vision Students:

Are you a blind or low-vision teen or do you know one who wants to spend 
their summer learning, meeting new people, and having a great adventure? 
Join the National Federation of the Blind at our NFB EQ program. NFB EQ is a 
jam-packed week of fun and learning. Participants spend each day engaged in 
activities designed to strengthen their knowledge of engineering as well as 
their problem-solving abilities. In the evenings, participants hang out with 
the twenty-nine other teen participants while exploring the local community 
and participating in various recreational activities. Throughout the week, 
participants will forge new friendships while increasing their engineering 
knowledge, problem-solving abilities, self-confidence, and independence.

To learn more and to apply, visit http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq.

Amazon’s Employment Practices:
The National Federation of the Blind is trying to understand access barriers 
experienced by blind individuals who work for, are subcontracted to work 
for, or are seeking employment with Amazon. Our goal is to help Amazon 
provide fully accessible workplaces and processes for its blind employees. 
Barriers may include inaccessible online applications or pre-employment 
screenings, a refusal or unnecessarily long delay in providing workplace 
accommodations, or inaccessible software used at Amazon worksites. If you 
have experienced any one of these barriers, or an access barrier not listed, 
please contact Valerie Yingling at vyingling at nfb.org or (410) 659-9314, 
extension 2440.

Dates to Keep in Mind:
  a.. March 22-23, 2018: Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
  b.. March 31, 2018: Deadline for scholarship applications, 
www.nfb.org/scholarships
  c.. April 15, 2018: Deadline for 2018 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award competition
  d.. July 3-8, 2018: National Federation of the Blind National Convention, 
Orlando, Florida
  e.. July 29-August 4, 2018: NFB EQ

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the 
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the 
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles 
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; 
blindness is not what holds you back.

Mark A. Riccobono

President

200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230

(410) 659-9314 | officeofthepresident at nfb.org

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.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnj_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180206/ae871130/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 33789 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnj_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180206/ae871130/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 16172 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnj_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180206/ae871130/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 16306 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnj_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180206/ae871130/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 16509 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnj_nfbnet.org/attachments/20180206/ae871130/attachment-0003.png>