[Nfbofsc] [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - April 30, 2019

Tue Apr 30 23:12:42 UTC 2019

Dear Fellow Federationists:

Thanks to everyone for your calls and emails over the two week break.
Due to your tremendous efforts we gained eight cosponsors across all
of our bills during the break (Five on H.R. 2086: Stephanie Murphy of
Florida, Chris Stewart of Utah, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Rashida Tlaib
of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; Two on S. 815: Deb
Fischer of Nebraska, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois; One on H.R. 873 Jim
Cooper of Tennessee). This is a significant accomplishment, but we
can't celebrate too much because there is still much work left to do!

Please call your representative and two senators and urge them to
cosponsor these two bills if they have not already done so. A complete
list of current cosponsors is included at the end of this email. A
summary of the two bills follows.

Transformation to Competitive Employment Act
House - H.R. 873 - Sponsored by Bobby Scott (D-VA-3)
Senate - S. 260 - Sponsored by Bob Casey (D-PA)
These bills would phase out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards
Act over a six-year period, at which point the provision would
officially be sunset.

Access Technology Affordability Act
House - H.R. 2086 - Sponsored by Mike Thompson (D-CA-5)
Senate - S. 815 - Sponsored by John Boozman (R-AR)
This legislation removes an employment barrier commonly experienced by
blind Americans who cannot afford the high cost of access technology
by creating a refundable tax credit in the amount of $2,000 to offset
the cost of these technologies.

When you call or email, you might say something like the following:
"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent of [your
senator/representative]. I live in [city, state]. I am calling to urge
[your senator/representative] to cosponsor [S. 260 for Senate
calls/H.R. 873 for House calls], the Transformation to Competitive
Employment Act. This bill would phase out subminimum wages for people
with disabilities over a six-year period, at which point Section 14(c)
of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the provision that allows this
practice, would be sunset. I urge [your senator/representative] to
cosponsor the bill.

I am also calling to urge [your senator/representative] to cosponsor
[S. 815 for Senate calls/H.R. 2086 for House calls], the Access
Technology Affordability Act. This legislation removes an employment
barrier commonly experienced by blind Americans who cannot afford the
high cost of access technology by creating a refundable tax credit in
the amount of $2,000 to offset the cost of these technologies. I urge
[your senator/representative] to cosponsor the bill.

Thanks."

You can contact your member of Congress by calling the Capitol
Switchboard and asking for the office in question. The number is
202-224-3121. If you email your representative or senators, please
copy Gabe Cazares at gcazares at nfb.org<mailto:gcazares at nfb.org>.

List of cosponsors as of April 30, 2019:
Transformation to Competitive Employment Act S. 260
Sen. Harris, Kamala D. [D-CA]
Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL]
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]

Transformation to Competitive Employment Act H.R. 873
Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray, Jr. [D-CA-39]
Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-11]
Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-10]
Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2]
Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]
Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24]
Rep. Gabbard, Tulsi [D-HI-2]
Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6]
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Rep. Maloney, Sean Patrick [D-NY-18]
Rep. Morelle, Joseph D. [D-NY-25]
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria [D-NY-14]
Rep. Kaptur, Marcy [D-OH-9]
Rep. Ryan, Tim [D-OH-13]
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1]
Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4]
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1]
Rep. Gonzalez-Colon, Jenniffer [R-PR-At Large]
Rep. Cooper, Jim [D-TN-5]
Rep. Burgess, Michael C. [R-TX-26]
Rep. Rodgers, Cathy McMorris [R-WA-5]
Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2]

Access Technology Affordability Act S. 815
Sen. Jones, Doug [D-AL]
Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK]
Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL]
Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]
Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]
Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]

Access Technology Affordability Act H.R. 2086
Rep. Gaetz, Matt [R-FL-1]
Rep. Murphy, Stephanie N. [D-FL-7]
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-13]
Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1]
Rep. Kelly, Mike [R-PA-16]
Rep. Cooper, Jim [D-TN-5]
Rep. Stewart, Chris [R-UT-2]

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at
410-659-9314, extension 2218 or email me at
JPare at nfb.org<mailto:JPare at nfb.org>.

Thanks,

John

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