[NFBV-Announce] help pass the Access Technology Affordability Act!

[jackibruce6 at gmail.com]

From: Deepa Goraya 

 

Hello NFBV,

 

This is the fourth of six legislative advocacy alerts. There will be two
more in the coming weeks.

 

The National Federation of the Blind urges both the House and Senate to pass
the Access Technology Affordability Act, H.R. 1529/S. 1918. This bill will
help blind Americans to be able to afford the high cost of qualified access
technology by creating a refundable tax credit of 2,000 dollars for use over
a three-year period.

 

As of right now, we have 32 cosponsors in the House and three in the Senate.
>From Virginia, Rep. Vindman is a cosponsor. We need your help to get the
other Virginia House representatives and senators to cosponsor.

 

We are asking that you call or email both of your Senators and your
Representative and ask them to cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability
Act.

 

Sample Script

When you call or email you might say:

"My name is [YOUR NAME] and I want to urge [REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR NAME] to
support the Access Technology Affordability Act, [H.R. 1529/S 1918]. This
bill will save the federal government an estimated 315 million dollars over
the span of five years according to Mathematica, a well-respected economic
firm. It will do this by creating a 2,000 dollar refundable tax credit for
blind people for the purchase of specialized access technology.

This technology will help blind people search for a job, apply for a job,
and then keep that job, which in turn increase the number of blind Americans
who are working and paying into programs like Social Security and decrease
the number of blind Americans who receive government benefits. Please
support the Access Technology Affordability Act today."

We suggest a subject like: "Mathematica estimates H.R. 1529/S. 1918 would
save the federal government 315 million dollars over five years."

 

A current list of the House members and their office's contact info is
attached. 

You can also download the Senate
<https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2025-09/September%20Legislative%20Alert
%20Spreadsheet%20-%20Senate.xlsx>  or the House spreadsheet
<https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2025-09/September%20Legislative%20Alert
%20Spreadsheet%20-%20House_0.xlsx> . They are organized alphabetically by
state. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for
the office in question. For Representative Connolly's office, VA-11, James
Walkinshaw is now the newly elected representative. I've included his office
phone number in the attached spreadsheet but do not know who the legislative
director is or any email address.

 

Background

Since 2017, the National Federation of the Blind has been working to get a
tax credit for the purchase of qualified access technology for the blind
passed into law. We believe that this would help blind Americans to better
handle the high cost of access technology that we need in order to be able
to search for, apply for, and maintain steady and fulfilling employment.

In turn, with more of us working, we would actually be paying more into the
federal government through income and payroll taxes and be less dependent on
government benefits. Over time, this increased employment and reduced
dependence will save the federal government approximately $315 million
dollars over the course of five years according to an analysis by
Mathematica. 

 

 

Deepinder K. Goraya, Esq.

 

 

 

Peace,

 

Jacki Bruce

 

Corresponding Secretary NFBV

mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com

tel:(757)291-1789

 

Membership Chair

mailto:membership at nfbv.org

 

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www.nfbv.org <http://www.nfbv.org/> 

STRONGER TOGETHER!

 

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