[Ohio-Talk] Fw: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - June 1, 2023 - The Access Technology Affordability Act & the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act

Thu Jun 1 21:48:56 UTC 2023

Forwarded on  behalf of the national government affairs group.

Shane Popplestone
vice president of the Ohio Association of blind students
co-chair of the ohio newsline committee
member of the Grater Akron Chapter
member of Ohio Association of Guide Dog users
spopplestone.nfb at gmail.com
You can live the life you want!

------ Forwarded Message ------
>From "Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List" 
<nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
To "nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org" <nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
Date 6/1/2023 4:54:49 PM
Subject [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert - June 1, 2023 - The 
Access Technology Affordability Act & the Medical Device Nonvisual 
Accessibility Act

Dear Federation Family:

Last week, the Access Technology Affordability Act was introduced in the 
House by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA). Original 
cosponsors include Rep.  Rutherford (R-FL), Rep. Dunn (R-FL), Rep. 
Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Bost (R-IL), Rep. Cartwright (D-PA), Rep. Guest 
(R-MS), Rep. Case (D-HI), Rep. Neguse (D-CO), Rep. Posey (R-FL), Rep. 
Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Carter (R-GA) and Rep. Sarbanes (D-MD).  The 
bill numbers for the Access Technology Affordability Act are H.R. 3702 
and S. 1467. Last Congress the Access Technology Affordability Act had 
165 cosponsors in the House and 40 cosponsor s in the Senate. Since it 
is a new Congress, we will have to work hard to get back to that level 
of cosponsors.

On March 1, 2023 the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act, H.R. 
1328 was introduced by Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) along with 
32 initial cosponsors. Over the past three months, we have gained 16 
more making a total of 48 cosponsors for this important legislation. The 
fight isn’t over so we need your help to keep up the momentum in this 
Congress.

Both the House and Senate are in session starting Tuesday, June 6 and 
throughout the remainder of next week. Please contact your 
Representative and Senators as soon as possible and urge them to 
cosponsor the Access Technology Affordability Act, H.R.3702/S. 1467 and 
the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act, H.R.1328. If you are 
contacting a Senate office, you should not mention the Medical Device 
Nonvisual Accessibility Act since it has not yet been introduced in the 
Senate.

When you call or email, you might say the following:

"Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent of [SENATOR or 
REPRESENTATIVE NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE]. I would like to urge 
[SENATOR or REPRESENTATIVE NAME] to cosponsor the Access Technology 
Affordability Act [H.R. 3702/ S. 1467] and the Medical Device Nonvisual 
Accessibility Act [H.R. 1328]. The Access Technology Affordability Act 
would increase employment opportunities for blind Americans who cannot 
afford the high cost of access technology by creating a refundable tax 
credit in the amount of $2,000 to offset the cost of this technology. 
The Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act authorizes the FDA to 
establish a minimum nonvisual access standard for Class II and Class III 
medical devices with digital displays so that blind people can operate 
them safely and independently.

Thanks."

You can contact your Representatives and Senators by calling the Capitol 
Switchboard and asking for the office in question. The number is 
202-224-3121. If you email your Representatives and senators, please 
copy Jeff Kaloc at jkaloc at nfb.org and Justin Young at jyoung at nfb.org. 
Your calls and emails do make a difference.

It is best to call or email the relevant staff person in your member of 
Congress's office. For your convenience, we have attached a list of 
relevant staffers in the House and Senate. If you do not see your 
Representative or Senator, please email Jesa Medders at 
jmedders at nfb.org, or call 410-659-9314, extension 2207 and she will do 
further research.

Thank you for all that you do,

Government Affairs Group

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