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<DIV>Greetings to all!</DIV>
<DIV>Please read through the information provided below.</DIV>
<DIV>Please share with others as our voices need to be heard!</DIV>
<DIV>Warmly,</DIV>
<DIV>Joe </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>**</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY:
inline'><B>From:</B>
<A title=rysteve@comcast.net href="mailto:rysteve@comcast.net">Ryan
Stevens</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, July 23, 2019 9:07 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=nfbnj1@verizon.net
href="mailto:nfbnj1@verizon.net">joe
ruffalo</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Legislative alert from John Pare</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Joe,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Please forward the below message from John Pare to the NFBNJ
distribution</DIV>
<DIV>list.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks and take care,</DIV>
<DIV>Ryan</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>********************</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Greetings, NFBNJ members,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Below is a message from John Pare encouraging us to make a push for
NFB</DIV>
<DIV>legislation before the House and Senate go on their August recess. I
am</DIV>
<DIV>encouraging you to do the same.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>For those who are in Bill Pascrell's district, thank him for
cosponsoring</DIV>
<DIV>HR2086, the Access Technology Affordability Act and ask him to also
support</DIV>
<DIV>HR873, the Transformation to Competetive Employment Act. The rest of us
need</DIV>
<DIV>to ask our House members to sign onto both bills. Everyone also needs
to</DIV>
<DIV>contact Senators Booker and Menendez to cosponsor the Senate companion
bills</DIV>
<DIV>S815 and S260. Let's build momentum on bringing these bills to
fruition.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>To reach your representatives by phone, call the Capitol Switchboard
at</DIV>
<DIV>(202) 224-3121. You can also email them. If you do, please copy me
at</DIV>
<DIV>rysteve@comcast.net and Gabe Cazares at gcazares@nfb.org.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If you are not sure who your member in the House is, you can go
to</DIV>
<DIV>www.house.gov and enter your zip code or call your local library to
find</DIV>
<DIV>out.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks and take care,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Ryan</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ryan Stevens, Legislative Director</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dear Federation Family:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The House of Representatives will go on its annual August break at the
end</DIV>
<DIV>of this week. The Senate will go on its August break at the end of
the</DIV>
<DIV>following week. We need to build as much cosponsor support as we can
before</DIV>
<DIV>this occurs. Please call your representative and two senators and urge
them</DIV>
<DIV>to cosponsor the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act and the
Access</DIV>
<DIV>Technology Affordability Act. A summary of the two bills follows.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Transformation to Competitive Employment Act </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>House - H.R. 873 - Sponsored by Bobby Scott (D-VA-3) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Senate - S. 260 - Sponsored by Bob Casey (D-PA) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>These bills would phase out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
Act</DIV>
<DIV>over a six-year period, at which point the provision would officially
be</DIV>
<DIV>sunset.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Access Technology Affordability Act</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>House - H.R. 2086 - Sponsored by Mike Thompson (D-CA-5) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Senate - S. 815 - Sponsored by John Boozman (R-AR) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This legislation removes an employment barrier commonly experienced by
blind</DIV>
<DIV>Americans who cannot afford the high cost of access technology by
creating
a</DIV>
<DIV>refundable tax credit in the amount of $2,000 to offset the cost of
these</DIV>
<DIV>technologies.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When you call or email, you might say something like the
following:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent of [your</DIV>
<DIV>senator/representative]. I live in [city, state]. I am calling to urge
[your</DIV>
<DIV>senator/representative] to cosponsor [S. 260 for Senate calls/H.R. 873
for</DIV>
<DIV>House calls], the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act. This
bill</DIV>
<DIV>would phase out subminimum wages for people with disabilities over
a</DIV>
<DIV>six-year period, at which point Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor
Standards</DIV>
<DIV>Act, the provision that allows this practice, would be sunset. I urge
[your</DIV>
<DIV>senator/representative] to cosponsor the bill.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am also calling to urge [your senator/representative] to cosponsor
[S.
815</DIV>
<DIV>for Senate calls/H.R. 2086 for House calls], the Access
Technology</DIV>
<DIV>Affordability Act. This legislation removes an employment barrier
commonly</DIV>
<DIV>experienced by blind Americans who cannot afford the high cost of
access</DIV>
<DIV>technology by creating a refundable tax credit in the amount of $2,000
to</DIV>
<DIV>offset the cost of these technologies. I urge [your
senator/representative]</DIV>
<DIV>to cosponsor the bill.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at
410-659-9314,</DIV>
<DIV>extension 2218 or email me at JPare@nfb.org.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>