[Nfbwv-talk] President Riccobono's Notebook for 5-3-18

Thu May 3 19:11:40 UTC 2018

May 3, 2018
President's Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
410-659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

Exactly two months from now we will be kicking off our 2018 National Convention in Orlando. Things are shaping up well and the usual excitement about our family reunion is spreading across the organization.

There are a number of pressing items to pay attention to this week. Please give our advocacy for the Marrakesh Implementation Act immediate attention as action will be most effective in the coming days.

I am recording the Presidential Release later today so you should plan for it to be available on May 4-in time for the first Saturday of May. A trip to Seattle to work with Amazon prevented me from having it ready for this notebook.

I encourage our affiliates to be thinking about contributions to our national movement at the national convention. Local support is critical to our success and it is always a wonderful experience to hear the generosity of our affiliates.

Critical Actions This Week:
Marrakesh Treaty Action Requested:
The US Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up consideration of the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act (S. 2559) at its next executive business meeting. The meeting may be held as soon as May 10, with consideration of the treaty itself by the Foreign Relations Committee to follow very shortly thereafter. Ahead of these votes, we have been encouraged to urge senators to cosponsor the bill. Please call both of your US senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 2559, the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act, which will put more accessible books in the hands of blind Americans at home and abroad. You can reach your senate offices by calling the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Fraudulent Requests for Membership Lists:
We have been notified by several state presidents that they have received requests for membership lists for the purposes of updating a member directory. Some of these requests have come from alfredsmithuk at gmail.com<mailto:alfredsmithuk at gmail.com>. When reviewing any such request, please keep in mind the following: valid requests from the national organization for membership information will only be sent from an nfb.org email address; such requests will contain the full signature of the requesting staff member (including name, job title, contact information, and NFB logo and social media icons); and these requests will specifically cite the Connections database. If you have any questions about the validity of a request for membership or other generally protected information, please don't hesitate to contact me for clarification.

News:
Blog Post:
The National Federation of the Blind engages in strategic legal action to defend the rights and advance the equality of blind people. While we do not have the financial resources to assist every blind individual who experiences discrimination, we help individuals bring legal action where we believe that the result is likely to be important systemic change. Please take a moment to read my blog post<https://nfb.org/blog/article/3546> about a case we have brought against one of the largest school systems in our country to defend the rights of a blind employee and force the system to procure accessible technology so that blind staff, faculty, and students will be treated equally.

April Podcast:
The April podcast, "Technology and Its Role in Living the Lives We Want<https://nfb.org/nations-blind/nations-blind-podcast-episode-25-april-2018>," is now available.

Here & Now:
I was interviewed recently for Here & Now, a nationally syndicated radio show. The interview is available at http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/04/26/blind-people-apps-technology.

Membership Chairpersons:
During the presidents' meeting prior to Washington Seminar we discussed the need to appoint a membership chairperson for each affiliate. This is to request that affiliate presidents make this appointment no later than May 15. The person you appoint should be passionate about and committed to growing our membership locally and within our national organization. The membership chair will be the point of contact for the membership committee and, along with you as affiliate president, be responsible for the growth of your affiliate. Please make sure that you have had a conversation with the person you appoint before doing so. And once the appointment has been made, send the following contact information to membership at nfb.org<mailto:membership at nfb.org>: affiliate, name, email address, and best contact phone number.

BELL Volunteer Background Checks:
I have authorized use of the national office's Verified Volunteers account for the NFB BELL Academy background checks. State coordinators should send the volunteers' names and email addresses to BELL at nfb.org<https://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=10929&qid=2229542>. We will enter their information into the system, and each volunteer will receive an email with instructions and a link to login where they will enter their personal information. Once the background search has been completed, we will make sure to get the information to the coordinator for review and decision making. We will then invoice the states the costs of the background check; most reports are $23 a person.

Medicare Information to Be Accessible:
The National Federation of the Blind and three blind individuals have reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The settlement resolves the allegation brought forth in a 2016 lawsuit that CMS discriminated against blind and low-vision beneficiaries by failing to provide meaningful and equal access to Medicare information. The full press release is available at https://nfb.org/medicare-information-become-accessible-blind-beneficiaries.

Dates to Keep in Mind:

  *   May 31, 2018: Deadline for preregistration for 2018 National Convention<https://convention.nfb.org/>
  *   July 3-8, 2018: National Federation of the Blind National Convention<https://nfb.org/convention>, Orlando, Florida
  *   July 29-August 4, 2018: NFB EQ<http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq>

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

Mark A. Riccobono
President
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314 | officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.

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