[Ohio-Talk] Fw: Including provisions to prohibit blindness from being used to deny or limit care of a minor in the 2021 Budget

Fri Apr 16 22:26:23 UTC 2021

Hello all,
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote the letter to my local representative and senator that Todd sent out, and I got a wonderful response I wanted to share. I will be sure to send an invite to our May Cuyahoga County chapter meeting. I hope others have sent the letter and received similar responses.

Ryan    ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Rep14 at ohiohouse.gov <rep14 at ohiohouse.gov>To: 'ryan sima' <ryansima at att.net>Sent: Friday, April 16, 2021, 04:57:21 PM EDTSubject: RE: Including provisions to prohibit blindness from being used to deny or limit care of a minor in the 2021 Budget
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Dear Ryan,

Thank you for taking the time to contact my office. Your feedback allows me to better represent you in the Ohio Statehouse, and your willingness to speak out makes our democracy work by providing the catalyst for real change.

I am so grateful for your advocacy on this important issue, and I am supportive of prohibiting blindness from being used to deny or limit care of a minor. It is so disappointing that, even today, blindness has been used as the sole determining factor in making decision about child custody and visitation. Blind individuals deserve to be and are just as capable of being parents as those who are not blind. I voted in favor of this legislation in the last General Assembly, and I will do everything in my power to get this over the finish line in this General Assembly.

Thanks again for reaching out. Your active participation is an important part of making government work for the people. Please don’t hesitate to call or email anytime that I might be of service.

All the best, 

Bride Rose Sweeney

State Representative

14th Ohio House District

77 S. High Street – 10th Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 466-3350 

Rep14 at ohiohouse.gov

Website |Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter

-----Original Message-----
From: ryan sima <ryansima at att.net> 
Sent: Friday, April 2, 2021 12:34 AM
To: Rep14 <Rep14 at ohiohouse.gov>
Subject: Including provisions to prohibit blindness from being used to deny or limit care of a minor in the 2021 Budget

Dear Representative Sweeney,

I am a constituent in your district, and a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio. The National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, Ohio’s largest and oldest organization representing Ohio’s Blind citizens, proposed H.B. 188 in the 2019-20 legislative session.   I am writing to ask you to support including H.B. 188’s language in the 2021 Budget

H.B. 188 would prohibit a person’s blindness from being used as the sole basis to deny or limit custody, parenting time, visitation, adoption, or service as a guardian or foster caregiver, of a minor child. Unfortunately, the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio continues to encounter situations where blindness has been used as the sole determining factor in making decisions regarding child custody and visitation. Consequently, The National Federation of the Blind of Ohio believes that passage of provisions prohibiting the use of blindness as a sole determining factor in these situations is essential for protecting the rights of Blind parents and caregivers, and the rights of the children impacted by these decisions.

I personally feel this is an extremely important issue because I am completely blind and would like to adopt or foster visually impaired people in the future. I also know of blind people who have been turned down custody of their children, and would not like this to happen to me because of my blindness if I have my own children.

Last year, H.B. 188 received strong bipartisan support in the House. H.B. 188 had two primary Sponsors Representative Erica Crawley (D-26), and Representative Jon Cross (R-83). At the time H.B. 188 was approved by the House, the legislation had 48 cosponsors. In addition, the bipartisan support for H.B. 188 was so strong that the legislation passed out of Committee on a 13-0 vote and was approved by the House on a 93-0 vote. Unfortunately, there was insufficient time last year for H.B. 188 to be considered by the Senate. At the time H.B. 188 was passed by the House the Legislative Service Commission reported that the legislation would only result “minimal cost…”.

I and the National Federation of the Blind are now asking that the provisions of H.B. 188 from the 2019-20 legislative session be included in the 2021 Budget to ensure that the rights of blind parents and caregivers and the minor children they care for are protected as expeditiously as possible.

Please do not hesitate to contact the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio if you have questions regarding this proposal. You can contact our Legislative Director Eric Duffy atpeduffy63 at gmail.com or at 614-377-9877.

Sincerely,

Ryan Sima 

8714, Morton Avenue, 44144 

216-470-1304 

ryansima at att.net

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