[NFBOH-Cleveland] Urgent Call for the Ohio Affiliate on Legislative Priorities!

Thu Oct 30 02:26:33 UTC 2025

Ohio You Are Needed!

As you are aware, the laws that the blind use are in jeopardy: the ADA of
1990, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Randolph-Sheppard Act and more.

The Reduction in Force (RIF) at the Department of Education Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil
Rights will Decimate In-State Services for People with Disabilities by:. 

*	Disrupting funding and eliminating meaningful practices and
institutional knowledge for special education and related services for
children with disabilities, including funding for teachers, speech
therapists, psychologists, and other support personnel. 

Please read the factsheet below.

Because of these laws that will be defunded, the Advocacy and Policy
Department is asking the membership to reach out to Congress and the Senate
to voice our concerns. Therefore, Ohio has assembled 14 team leads that need
additional members to step up to make our voices heard. You can join a team
to assist with this legislative priority. 

There are 14 teams below. Please send me your name and what team you would
like to join. It doesn't matter where you reside if it is a zoom call. A few
will be in the district offices in-person. Therefore, if you are able to
travel, please let me know. I will alert the team lead of your willingness
to advocate with he or she. 

Lastly, please respond by Friday, October 31, 2025; as we are pushing to
meet with representatives either on Monday or Tuesday of next week. Plus,
everyone should have mock meetings prior to the schedule appointments.

Suzanne

Team Leads and the Factsheet are below!

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Monday:

Team 1

NFB Lead: Chacity Gilliam,

Congresswoman, Shontel Brown 

Staffer: Leslie Aguilar

House OH 11

Team 2

NFB Lead: Patricia McPherson

Emilia Sykes     

House OH 13  

Staffer: Tinae Bluitt             

Team 3

NFB Lead: Annette Lutz, 

Congressman Joyce Beatty     

Staffer: JACOB CARROLL       

House OH3 

Team 4

NFB Lead: Wilbert Turner

Congressman, Jim Jordan         

Staffer: Vincent M. Bellomo           

House OH 4     

Team 5

NFB Lead: Richard Payne,

Congressman, Mike Carey        

Staffer: Emily Graeter        

House OH 15

Team 6

Team Lead: Kinshuk Tella

Congressman, Michael Turner

Staffer: Tyler Jones            

House OH 10  

Team 7

NFB Lead: Sue Ott, 

Congressman, Dave Joyce 

Staffer: Evan Marquardt                   

House OH 2     

Tuesday:

Team 8 

NFB Lead: Delcenia Brown

Congresswoman, Marcy Kaptur    

Staffer: Adrienne Cardulla                   

House OH 9     

Team 9

NFB Lead: William Turner

Congressman, Robert Latta     

Staffer: Andrew Henthorn                   

House OH 5     

Team 10

NFB Lead: Mike Bullis

Congressman, Troy Balderson 

Staffer: Alexandra DeRiso                  

House OH 12  

Team 11:

NFB Lead: Mariann Denning, 

Congressman, Landsman

House Oh 1

Staffer: Kelly Dukes

Team 12

Team Lead: Ivory Thomas

Congressman, Warren Davidson           

Staffer: Gus Desch             

House OH 8     

Team 13

NFB Lead: Andra Stover 

Congressman Max Miller

House OH 7

Staffer: Ray Paoletta

Team 14

Team Lead: Suzanne Turner

Congressman Michael Rulli

House OH 6

Staffer: Prescott Carey

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The Reduction in Force (RIF) at the Department of Education Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil
Rights will Decimate In-State Services for People with Disabilities

The RIF will Decimate Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Programs
in Every State by:

*	Disrupting funding and eliminating meaningful practices and
institutional knowledge for special education and related services for
children with disabilities, including funding for teachers, speech
therapists, psychologists, and other support personnel. 
*	Disrupting funding and eliminating meaningful practices and
institutional knowledge for preschool programs for children with
disabilities. 
*	Disrupting funding for competitive grants for training, technical
assistance, and technology to improve services for students with
disabilities. 

The RIF will Decimate Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Programs in Every State by:

*	Disrupting federal match funding and eliminating meaningful
practices and institutional knowledge for state vocational rehabilitation
programs, making these programs unsustainable, which will in turn mean that:

*	American adults with disabilities will not be able to receive
employment training.
*	American youth with disabilities will not be able to receive
transition to employment or transition to college training. 
*	Employers will be unable to seek assistance in finding qualified
disabled employees.
*	State-level employees who administer these programs will be
furloughed or lose their jobs entirely. 

*	Disrupting funding and eliminating meaningful practices and
institutional knowledge for the Independent Living Services for Older
Individuals who are Blind program will mean that older blind Americans may
be forced into nursing homes.

The RIF will Decimate the Randolph-Sheppard Program, Affecting the
Employment of Blind Entrepreneurs in Nearly Every State, by:

*	Eliminating positions critical to approving requests that allow
states to purchase needed equipment for Randolph-Sheppard Program vendors. 
*	Eliminating positions critical to approving changes in state rules,
policies, or programs concerning the implementation of Randolph-Sheppard in
states. 
*	Eliminating technical assistance programs for state licensing
agencies or elected committees.
*	Eliminating positions critical to processing state arbitration
complaints.
*	Eliminating positions that could help with agency issues, which will
in turn lead to more arbitration cases.
*	Eliminating positions that would help modernize the program. 

The RIF will Decimate Office for Civil Rights Enforcement of Disability
Rights Laws in Every State by:

*	Discontinuing operations at twelve field offices across the country
which employ hundreds of people who process over twenty thousand complaints
each year. 
*	Severely reducing the capacity to investigate and enforce the
requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which
prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in federally funded
educational institutions, including requiring effective communication, the
provision of Braille, large print, and audio, and reasonable accommodations
in K-12 and higher education. 
*	Severely reducing the capacity to investigate and enforce Title II
of the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, which prohibit
discrimination on the basis of disability in state and local educational and
other programs, including effective communication, the provision of Braille,
large print, and audio, and reasonable accommodations. 

Reduction or elimination of the services provided by any of these programs
will be catastrophic to the blind across the country. 

Below are a few testimonies from real blind Americans who have greatly
benefitted from each of the above programs. 

"I attended public school in Durant, Iowa - a very rural school district. I
was incredibly blessed to begin learning Braille and how to use accessible
technology tools to access a computer at a young age. As a result of my
terrific elementary school education, I thrived in high school and was able
to go to college, where I earned dual degrees in English and Theatre. I am
now employed and can proudly share that I pay both federal and FICA taxes."
- Elizabeth, from Durant, Iowa 

"I was able to go to a training center in Ruston, Louisiana, where I learned
independent living skills and how to be a productive citizen. Because of my
training, I have been a small business owner in the tech sector for more
than thirty years." - Karl, a blind business owner in Taylorsville, Utah

"For twenty-one years, I have owned and operated a successful dining food
facility and housekeeping service at the US Coast Guard Aviation Training
Center because of the Randolph-Sheppard program. My business helps employ
twenty employees while providing our Coast Guard personnel with the food and
accommodations they need to defend our nation." - Barbara, a blind business
owner in Mobile, Alabama

Ensure that these critical programs for Americans with disabilities in all
fifty states will be able to operate by rescinding the reduction in force at
the Department of Education!

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