[NFBOK-Talk] Fw: Kicking the Blind out of the Capital!

[Rhonda Hutson]

For those of you that attended a few years ago our annual training conference, Representative Lockhart spoke to us over avicating. I reminded him of this and also reminded him that he once told me that he didn’t understand the issue and would have not voted for Hickman’s bill. See below message!

From: James Lockhart 
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2016 8:45 AM
To: Rhonda Hutson 
Subject: Re: Kicking the Blind out of the Capital!

Keep me up to date with this bill. I will try to kill it. 


Respectfully Submitted,

James Lockhart
State Representative
918-653-7571 home 
405-557-7413 office


Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 14, 2016, at 4:41 AM, Rhonda Hutson <rhondahutson3 at gmail.com> wrote:


  James, You came a few years ago to our annual Business Enterprise training conference in August and talked with us. 
  You told me that if you had understood you would not have voted for this same bill Hickman is trying once again to get through the house. 

  House Bill 3023                                                                       By:   Pfeiffer and Hickman

  relating to the State Capitol Building; amending 7 O.S. 2011, Section 73, which relates to vending facilities; providing exception for areas of the State Capitol Building; and providing an effective date.



  The last time a bill like this was introduced, it was passed by the House of Representatives and then was scheduled in the senate for vote on Disability Awareness day. The Bill was introduced by Hickman. This was a total humiliation to the blind community. Exposed by the press and thanks to Senator Garrison of Muskogee, it was defeated.



  Issues:



  By making the Capital another exclusion for our managers, it would promote more agencies to be exempt.
  Many offices over the years have moved out of the Capital reducing the amount of traffic at the Capitol during the months that the legislature is not in session reducing profit margins for our managers.
  Free food is welcomed at the Capital. Companies are allowed to bring in free food to the staff at the Capital reducing profitability at the Capital.
  Our managers are not contacted by any staff to cater activities at the Capital including Disability Awareness Day.
  We have been refused the Coffee Service that the Capital has for its staff.


  The unwillingness of the Capital to work with our managers has been a challenge.  We feel that our presence is very important to our representatives so that they will not forget that our program is a very important one. It provides us with a living, we pay local, state and federal taxes, we employ people in our communities and we pay a certain percentage back to our agency; one of the few programs in our state that does this.





  Rhonda Hutson
  918-774-3213 Cell
  rhondahutson3 at gmail.com
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