[nfbwatlk] Testimony on SB-6491

[Mike Freeman]

Thank you, kind sir. And thanks to Ben, Al and Jedi also.

All in a day's work!

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Frye, Dan" <DFrye at nfb.org>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 5:11 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Testimony on SB-6491


> Mike:
>
> Congratulations on your written WSSB testimony. Your statement is
> clearly drafted and quite persuasive. I expect it will help (if help can
> be had) to protect the school. The affiliate's leadership on this topic
> is easy to see after reading your impressive remarks. I'm sorry you
> didn't have the opportunity to deliver these remarks in person, but they
> are present for the record. Again, congratulations; your efforts do us
> proud.
>
> With Kind Regards,
>
> Dan Frye
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 7:42 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] Testimony on SB-6491
>
> Fellow listers:
>
> Attached, you will find a fact sheet on the Washington State School for
> the Blind and the testimony I would have given at the hearing on
> SB-6491, the bill placing the Schools for the Blind and the Deaf under
> the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, held bythe
> Senate Committee on Early Learning and K-12 Education. I say "would
> have" because my amanuensis signed me up to testify for the wrong bill
> and by the time the mistake was noticed, the senators had run out of
> time. However, I did distribute the testimony in print to all the
> committee members and electronically the day before.
>
> Denise and Berl Colley of the Washington Council of the Blind testified
> and gave excellent testimony largely based upon the attached fact sheet.
> I wish I could have physically testified because (as you will see) I
> pointed out what I believe to be fundamental flaws in the legislation.
> Oh well. Several members of the deaf community testified. The only
> person testifying in favor of SB-6491 was, of course, a member of
> Governor Gregoire's staf, kathleen Drew.
>
> Frankly, I believe that the Governor's staff has gotten the idea that
> state agencies serving the blind should take care of them rather than
> empower them so agency structure doesn't matter.
>
> WE will inform them of their error. please use my testimony to contact
> your senators and let them know that the NFB of Washington strongly
> opposes the bill. I am attaching a PDF copy of the bill and, rest
> assured, it is accessible.
>
> Michael Freeman, President
> NFB of Washington
>
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