[Ohio-talk] Critical action needed H.B. 271 and H.B 309

[Andra Stover]

My senator has been contacted. I actually spoke with a live person this time.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 11, 2018, at 2:34 AM, Mike Leiterman via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear colleagues,
> The National Federation of the Blind of Ohio requires your immediate action, and assistance regarding H.B. 271, and H.B 309. both of these pieces of legislation have been passed by the house, and have  been referred by the Senate Judiciary Committee for a vote from the full Senate.  The Senate will next  be in session on December 12, with this in mind it is imperative that we let the senate know what NFB's position is regarding each of these House bills. In short we are vehemently opposed to H.B. 271, and  we are in full support of H.B 309. I will be including a brief description of both H.B. 271 and H.B 309 later in this message. Please email and call your senator's office today and Wednesday, and let them know how you feel on both  H.B. 271 and H.B 309. If you have the time to make a number of calls please consider calling the other state Senators, and letting them know  that you are again opposed to H.B. 271, and  that you are in full support of H.B 309. You can find out who your senator is by going  to www.ohiosenat.gov<http://www.ohiosenat.gov>, and  navigating to the "find your Senator" link on the webpage there you will find a list of the 33 different Senators, along with another "find your Senator" link.  At the second "find your Senator" link, you will find an edit field to enter your mailing address. After you enter your mailing address, and hit enter the name of your senator will be listed.  Please hit enter on their name and their  Bio will appear, along with their contact information. Please note, that there is a visual map  that provides the geographic location of where the different Senators districts can be located throughout Ohio. Please feel free to share this information with your friends and family, and ask them to help ensure that the blind of Ohio be treated equally and fairly.
> 
>                In regards to H.B. 271 we are opposed to this bill being passed. In short this bill if passed would make it more difficult to file legal action against a party who may be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or in violation of  any other accessibility law. If this bill is passed it would require a person who is being discriminated against to send the alleged violator a letter asking them to correct the  unlawful behavior before you can pursue legal action with all available remedies. Once you have sent them a letter asking them to stop discriminating against you, and to stop violating the relevant law this bill would give the alleged violator an extended period of time before they would need to reply to your letter if at all. In addition to this drawn-out process H.B. 271  would then allow the alleged violator an extended  period of time to stop the discrimination or fix the problem. One would think this would  be enough but there is more to H.B. 271.  under this bill the alleged violator can make a request for an extension of time to further allow them even more time to correct the problem, which may be ok if they would be willing to fix the wrong doing slash violation. However if no action is taken, even after  all the     delays have taken place you are simply left with a problem that has not been fixe. Our position is simply that H.B. 271 is just another obstacle  for the  blind and disabled to receiving justice.
> 
>                In regards to H.B 309 we are in full support of  this  bill. This piece of legislation would prohibit   a person's blindness from being used  to deny or limit custody, parenting time, visitation, adoption, or service as a guardian, foster caregiver regarding a minor.  Again we are in support of this legislation, it should be noted that H.B 309 has not faced any opposition during the legislative process. Please ask your Senator to support  the passage of H.B 309.
> 
> In closing I would like to Thank you in advance for all of your hard work on these two issues. We have made  a great deal of progress regarding H.B. 309, and I look forward to H.B. 309 being passed by the full Senate, and being sent to the governor's office  to be signed into law.
> 
> Respectfully yours,
> 
> Michael Leiterman ESQ.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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