[NFBV-Announce] 2020 Priorities from the Blind of Virginia

Fri Jan 17 03:50:50 UTC 2020

Please find below and attached our 2020 Richmond Seminar materials.

2020 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FROM THE BLIND OF VIRGINIA

Priority #1: Enable blind people to get back to work faster.

Action: Support the Governor's budget proposal for increased funds for DBVI.

Issue: The Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI) provides
vocational rehabilitation training, leading to employment of Virginians who
are blind, deaf/blind, and vision impaired. DBVI provides training in the
alternative techniques used by blind people to work and live independently.
Funding for DBVI has not increased for 20 years and the waiting list for
vocational rehabilitation services has grown to 250 adults and 400
underserved students. Individuals on the wait list typically wait for nearly
12 months before receiving services. Blind Virginians want to work and live
independently.

Solution:  Support the Governor's budget to increase DBVI funding. The
Governor's budget proposal is a significant step towards ensuring the
availability of sufficient funds needed to serve all blind Virginians who
require vocational rehabilitation services. The Governor's budget proposal
would eliminate the waiting list of 250 people, expand available workforce
services, and assure a source of matching funds for the federal vocational
rehabilitation grant. The Governor's budget proposal also expands funding
for older blind rehab teaching staff, allowing older blind Virginians to
live independently in their homes without having to depend on institutional
settings. Without this funding, many Virginians will be denied services
which lead them to self-sufficiency and the opportunity to lead productive
lives.

Priority #2: Implement a hiring priority for Virginians with disabilities in
state government.

Action: Co-patron HB 584 (Patron Delegate Guzman, 31st District) and SB162
(Patron Senator Spruill, 5th District) which adds a priority for hiring
people with disabilities as state employees.

Issue: One in ten Virginians have a disability as defined by the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990. According to the 2017 Disability Status
Report by Cornell University, only about half as many Virginians with
disabilities were employed in 2016, as compared to Virginians without any
disabilities. Furthermore, Virginians with Disabilities are economically
disadvantaged compared to their non-disabled peers even when employed. The
2017 Pew Research Center Disability Statistics annual report found that the
median earnings for the Virginians with disabilities who are employed is
only about two thirds of the median earnings for Virginians without
disabilities.

Solution: Provide hiring preference to persons with disabilities for jobs
with the Commonwealth of Virginia. HB584/SB162 will eliminate barriers to
state employment for people with disabilities by creating a hiring
preference similar to the existing veteran preference if a person with a
disability meets all the knowledge, skill, and ability requirements for the
available position. The preference requires that a person with a disability
be hired over a person without a disability when the two individuals are
substantially equal in qualifications for an eligible position. The fiscal
impact for changing the hiring process is $0 and the cost of accommodations
would be on the hiring agency. Accommodations are typically under $500.
Existing Virginia law requires the Commonwealth to promote and increase
hiring of people with disabilities and agencies have been tracking their
progress towards a 5% target since 2017.

*****

ABOUT THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

The National Federation of the Blind is America's largest and most active
organization of the blind. With more than 50,000 members, we are not an
"agency" claiming to speak for the blind; we are blind people speaking for
ourselves. In Virginia, we are organized into 14 local chapters throughout
the Commonwealth, and into various special interest divisions.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200116/d24732f7/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 164532 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200116/d24732f7/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 12231 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200116/d24732f7/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.emz
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 1479 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200116/d24732f7/attachment.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 6616 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200116/d24732f7/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2020 NFBV Fact sheet Final as of 01-16-2020.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 140477 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200116/d24732f7/attachment.pdf>