[NFBNJ] Summary of Washington Seminar Town Hall Meeting held on Monday, January 25, 2021

[Ellen Sullivan]

>From the Desk of Linda Melendez, President, National Federation of the Blind
of New Jersey (NFBNJ)

Submitted by Ellen Sullivan, Affiliate Secretary

 

Greetings,

 

Below you will find a summary of our Washington Seminar Town Hall Meeting
held on Zoom  on Monday, January 25, 2021. Special thanks to our NFBNJ
Legislative Director,  Ryan Stevens for sharing  with us his extensive
knowledge and experience  about the NFB Washington Seminar.

A special shout out of thanks to Linda Melendez, President, NFBNJ for
hosting and moderating the meeting and sharing her expertise with us.

Summary:

The meeting started promptly at 7:00 p.m. and ended at 8:00 p.m.

There were 41 participants at the Zoom Townhall meeting. Legislative
Director, Ryan Stevens briefly discussed the four priority issues that will
be presented at the 2021 Washington Seminar:

*	Access Technology Affordability Act
*	Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act
*	Accessible Websites Act
*	Accessible Voting Act

 

President Melendez shared that the first Washington Seminar took place in
1973. Today, more than five hundred people from the fifty states, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico attend.

Ryan Stevens said that the NFBNJ typically has a delegation of 14 to 16
members who travel to Washington to meet with our Congressional and
Senatorial Representatives and/or staff to present our issues. Normally we
address three priority issues however in 2021 we will address the four above
issues.

The Seminar starts with "The Great Gathering In" which will be held
virtually this year on February 8, 2021 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This
very exciting two hour event includes speakers, mock trials, a lot of
learning and fun! All are invited to this event and Zoom details will be
provided to our members.

Ryan further discussed how he and President Melendez strategized for our
first virtual event. The 2021 NFBNJ Washington Seminar has 31 members and
six group leaders:

*	Annemarie Cook
*	Rick Fox
*	Vee Gaspa
*	Linda Melendez
*	Ryan Stevens
*	Lia Stone

 

The groups represent the various geographical locations (North, South,
Central)  of the state and each group will have one or two members who are
constituents of the New Jersey Congressional District they will visit to
discuss the issues. The group will also have a student representative and a
new NFBNJ member who will be trained in the "Legislation Process". Meetings
with Congressional Representatives and staff will be held on Tuesday and
Wednesday (February 9 and 10) and meetings with Senators Booker and Menendez
will be held on Thursday (February 11). Ryan will lead the NFBNJ Delegation
with Senator Booker and President Melendez will lead the delegation meeting
with Senator Menendez.

Ryan reminded us that we will be working with the 117th Congress this year
and our previous bill numbers have changed as a result of this. The NFBNJ
will focus on recruiting staff who have previously supported earlier
versions of the bills to sign on again. More importantly we will try to get
all our representatives to support these legislative issues that are so
important to blind Americans.

President Melendez said that our "visit to Washington" (this year virtually)
is the "appetizer" and the real work begins when the delegation returns home
and includes:

*	Thank you letters to the Congressional and Senatorial Staff
*	Encouraging members and friends to support Legislative Alerts by
emailing or calling their Delegates 
*	Keeping lines of communication open so we are always advocating for
legislative issues impacting the blind. We need to be steadfast and
persistent and non-bipartisan.

 

President Melendez and Ryan thanked everyone for participating on this
important "Town Hall Meeting" and encouraged all to spread the word to their
family and friends. These are legislative issues impacting the blind across
the country. We have a unified platform to help blind people to live the
lives they want!

The meeting was informative, and participants had the opportunity to ask
questions and have them answered by knowledgeable professionals.

Summary respectfully provided by Ellen Sullivan, Affiliate Secretary and
reviewed by Linda Melendez, President, National Federation of the Blind of
New Jersey

 

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