[NYABS] Time Sensitive! NABS Urgently Needs Your Help to Pass the Access Technology Affordability Act

[NYABS Division]

Hi All again,

Sorry I forgot to include a proposed templet you can use for when
contacting Jesa at the National Federation of the Blind for your
contact information.  The reason why we need the appropriate staff
member is to ensure the information is going to the necessary person
to ensure the House of Representatives individual is receiving our
messages!  I have included in my earlier message the contacts for our
Senators so you'll need the House contact.

Thanks again for your assistance & hope you are all doing well during
the COVID time period!

Justin Young
President, NYABS

On 5/28/20, NYABS Division <nyabsdivision at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Hoping you are all doing well! We need your help to gain further
> co-sponsors for the Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA)
> (S.815/H.R. 2086). The National Association of Blind Students (NABS)
> has created a taskforce of blind students who are contacting all the
> State Student divisions to ask we contact our United States
> Representative & 2 Senators.  From New York State, neither Senator yet
> has co-sponsored S.815 and we only have 3 Representatives on H.R. 2086
> who are: Reps. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY-3), Jose Serrano (D-NY-15), &
> Joseph Morelle (D-NY-25).  The following message was received from Amy
> Albin with the request and a templet for us to use when contacting our
> U.S. Representatives & Senators.  This is a time sensititive advocacy
> initiative because the Congress returns to D.C. on Monday June 1 and
> if we can get the number of Co-sponsors in the House to the triple
> digits meaning 100 or more it is our reasoning that the Congressional
> representatives will take it more serious especially through the
> committee process.
>
> So please reach out to Jesa Medders   at jmedders at nfb.org requesting
> the Tax staff member for your House of Representatives member.  The
> appropriate staff members for our United States Senators are the
> following:
>
> Senator Schumer's tax staffer: anna_taylor at schumer.senate.gov
>  Senator Gillibrand's tax staffer: keith_castaldo at gillibrand.senate.gov
>
> If you're uncertain who your Representative in the House is you can
> find that information by visiting the following link:
>
> https://www.house.gov/htbin/findrep
>
> Thank you for all your advocacy related to ensuring we as students
> will have the necessary assistive technology to be successful and be
> able to afford it with the Access Technology Affordability Act!
>
> Justin Young
> President, New York Association of Blind Students
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Amy Albin <amyralbin at gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, 27 May 2020 15:00:08 -0400
> Subject: Time Sensitive! NABS Urgently Needs Your Help to Pass the
> Access Technology Affordability Act
> To: jty727 at gmail.com
> Cc: president at nfbny.org, "trishak.nfb" <trishak.nfb at gmail.com>,
> nabs.president at gmail.com
>
> Dear Justin,
>
> I hope that you are doing well during this COVID-19 pandemic. NABS
> needs your help to pass important legislation to make access
> technology more affordable for blind people, including students.
>
> We need students in your state to contact both Senators and their
> individual Representative. This means that each student would contact
> three offices. We need as many students as possible to make these
> contacts because we need more legislators to sign onto the bill before
> they all return to DC on June 1. This means that we need to contact
> them right away so that they can learn about the bill, make decisions,
> and have their name added to it before June 1.
>
> If anyone is already cosponsoring the bill, we want to thank them
> instead of asking for cosponsorship.
>
>
> To find out who the staff contact for ATAA is for the people who
> represent you, please e-mail Jesa Medders   at jmedders at nfb.org or
> simply find the general e-mail address for your representatives. To do
> this and to make your follow-up phone calls, call the Capitol
> Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your representative and their
> e-mail address. To find out who represents you:
> https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
> The senators are the same statewide for everyone, but House
> representatives may be different.
> To see who is already cosponsoring the bill, these 2 links
> S. 815 Cosponsors:
> https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/815/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22s815%22%5D%7D&s=4&r=1&overview=closed#tabs
> H. R. 2086 Cosponsors:
> https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2086/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hr2086%22%5D%7D&s=6&r=1&overview=closed#tabs
>
>
> Below my signature is a draft email that you all can use to ask your
> Senators and Representative to cosponsor the bill.
>
> Could you please send such an email right away, as well as help me get
> in touch with all other blind students inyour state?
>
> Thank you in advance!
>
> Amy Albin
> amyralbin at gmail.com
> 973-223-8044
>
> Subject: Draft Email to Legislative Staff Members
>
> To: staff contact
> Cc: Kaloc, Jeff JKaloc at nfb.org, Trisha Kulkarni trishak.nfb at gmail.com,
> Kathryn Webster nabs.president at gmail.com, Justin Young jty727 at gmail.com)
> Subject: Please Cosponsor S. 815/H.R. 2086
>
> Dear ###,
>
> I am one of your constituents from City, State. I write to
> respectfully request that my Senator/Congressman/Congresswoman
> co-sponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA) (S. 815/H.R.
> 2086).
>
> <give some background on yourself in order to establish rapport>
>
> The cost of critically needed access technology is out of reach for
> most blind Americans. By providing a refundable tax credit for
> qualifying purchases, Congress will stimulate individual procurement
> of this technology and promote affordability of these tools. The
> COVID-19 pandemic has forced many Americans to become much more
> dependent upon technology, which has exacerbated the challenges that
> blind students, job seekers, and employees were already facing.
>
> This bill already has bicameral bipartisan support. S. 815 currently
> has 22 cosponsors, and H.R. 2086 currently has 91 cosponsors. I wish
> to see my Senator/Congresswoman/Congressman sign on as a cosponsor.
>
> Will Senator/Congresswoman/Congressman #### please cosponsor this bill?
>
> I have copied Jeff Kaloc jkaloc at nfb.org with the National Federation
> of the Blind national office. He is available to answer any detailed
> questions you might have.
>
> Thank you in advance,
>
> Your Name
> Your Address (where you vote)
> Your Contact Info
>
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