[NFBP-Talk] FW: Legislative Alert – 9/9/2019

[Drenth, Joe]

Please read the following important information.


From: Eacobacci, Kimie <KEacobacci at nfb.org<mailto:KEacobacci at nfb.org>>
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 4:01 PM
To: State President, Pennsylvania <lynnelaine2 at verizon.net<mailto:lynnelaine2 at verizon.net>>
Subject: FW: Legislative Alert – 9/9/2019

Good Afternoon Lynn:

I hope this message finds you well. I’m following up from our September Legislative Alert on ATAA and a recent meeting we had with Senator Toomey’s office. As you know, we are trying to increase support for ATAA in the Senate but it is very Democrat heavy. We need more Republicans on board since the Republican are the senate majority.

Now would be a good time to ask our Pennsylvania members to email Christian Chelak in Senator Toomey’s office at Christian_Chelak at toomey.senate.gov<mailto:Christian_Chelak at toomey.senate.gov>  with the subject line “Please support ATAA (S. 815)” and include the following message:

"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent of Senator Toomey. I live in [city, state]. I am calling to urge Senator Toomey to cosponsor S. 815, 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 Senator Toomey  to become a co-sponsor.
Thanks."

From: NFBNet-Members-List <nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org>> On Behalf Of Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List
Sent: Monday, September 9, 2019 8:26 AM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert – 9/9/2019

Dear Federation Family:

As President Riccobono mentioned in the Presidential Release, the United States House and Senate are now back in session and there is no better time to rally support for our legislative priorities. Congress will be in session until the two week break at the beginning of October. That gives us exactly three weeks to build serious cosponsor support for our three legislative priorities. Since we have three weeks and three pieces of legislation, we’re going to focus on one issue per week. I will include bill summaries and cosponsor counts for the relevant bills in each legislative alert email. This week’s top legislative priority is the Access Technology Affordability Act.

Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA)
House – H.R. 2086 – Sponsored by Mike Thompson (D-CA-5) – 28 cosponsors
Senate – S. 815 – Sponsored by John Boozman (R-AR) – 14 cosponsors
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.

These cosponsor counts are impressive, but we need to keep the pressure up to ensure that ATAA moves from the committees to the floor and is ultimately passed into law. Please call your representative and two senators and urge them to cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act if they have not already done so. A complete list of current cosponsors is included at the end of this email.

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. 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 John Pare at jpare at nfb.org<mailto:jpare at nfb.org>. Your calls and emails do make a difference.

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]
Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]

Access Technology Affordability Act H.R. 2086
Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-42]
Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-50]
Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]
Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1]
Rep. Gaetz, Matt [R-FL-1]
Rep. Murphy, Stephanie N. [D-FL-7]
Rep. Gabbard, Tulsi [D-HI-2]
Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13]
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
Rep. Carson, Andre [D-IN-7]
Rep. Visclosky, Peter J. [D-IN-1]
Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7]
Rep. Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch [D-MD-2]
Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3]
Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8]
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-2]
Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5]
Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-4]
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-13]
Rep. Upton, Fred [R-MI-6]
Rep. Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [D-NJ-9]
Rep. Serrano, Jose E. [D-NY-15]
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>.

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