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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV>Greetings to all!</DIV>
<DIV>Ryan has provided valuable information for all of us to act.</DIV>
<DIV>This is an opportunity for the voices of the blind to be heard.</DIV>
<DIV>Please share with others.</DIV>
<DIV>Chapter/Division presidents, please discuss during upcoming
meetings.</DIV>
<DIV>One voice is heard, many voices sound like thunder!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Joe </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">We
care. We
share. We grow. We make a difference<BR>Joe Ruffalo, President <BR>National
Federation of the Blind of New Jersey <BR>973 743
0075<BR>nfbnj1@verizon.net<BR><A
href="http://www.nfbnj.org">www.nfbnj.org</A></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR:
#000000">RaisingExpectations
To Live The Life You Want!</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Your
old
car keys can be keys to literacy for the blind.<BR>Donate your unwanted
vehicle
to us by clicking <BR>www.carshelpingtheblind.org <BR>or call 855 659
9314<BR></DIV>
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<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=rysteve@comcast.net
href="mailto:rysteve@comcast.net">Ryan Stevens</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 24, 2020 7:38 PM</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> </DIV></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal>Greetings, Joe,<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Can you please forward the below message to the NFBNJ
listserv? This will hopefully push more action from our
members.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Thanks and take care,<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> Ryan<o:p></o:p></P>
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BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in"><o:p></o:p> </P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Greetings, NFBNJ members,<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>John Pare, NFB’s Executive Director of Advocacy and
Policy is
asking all Federationists to contact their Congressperson and two US
Senators to
help increase the number of cosponsors for each of the three issues we went
to
DC to discuss. We will be doing one issue per week.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The first is the Access Technology Affordability Act
(ATAA).
This bill would give blind persons the ability to purchase their own access
technology, such as a screen reader or refreshable Braille display, and
receive
a refundable tax credit of up to $2,000 over a three-year period. This would
mean not needing to wait for the state agency to buy the equipment, allowing
the
person to potentially take a job when it becomes available. The ultimate
goal of
this legislation is to reduce the unemployment/underemployment rate for
blind
people, which stands just under 70%.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The bill in the House of Representatives is HR2086. It
currently has 63 cosponsors, including New Jersey Reps Bill Pascrell
(District
9), Albio Sires (District 8) and Chris Smith (District 4). If you live in
any of
these districts, thank your member when you call. Otherwise, please ask your
Congressperson to sponsor the bill.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Neither of our Senators, Corey Booker nor Robert
Menendez,
has sponsored the Senate version of ATAA, S815. Please call both of them and
ask
them to sign onto this legislation.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>To reach each of the people you need to, call the Capitol
Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. To find out who your member of Congress is,
either go to <A href="http://www.house.gov">www.house.gov</A> and enter your
zip
code, or contact your local library. Once you have made your call, please
email
me at <A href="mailto:rysteve@comcast.net">rysteve@comcast.net</A> and Joe
Ruffalo at <A href="mailto:nfbnj1@verizon.net">nfbnj1@verizon.net</A> so
that we
can keep track of the numbers.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The more of us who reach out, the better the chance the
legislation we are pursuing will become law. Thank you for your attention to
this.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Take care,<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> Ryan<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Ryan Stevens, Legislative Director<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind of New
Jersey<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P
class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>