[rehab] Legislative Alert-Washington Seminar Fact Sheets Available
Gary Wunder
gwunder at earthlink.net
Thu Jan 14 04:02:21 UTC 2010
----- Original Message -----
From: Hartle, Jesse
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 1:22 PM
Subject: Legislative Alert-Washington Seminar Fact Sheets Available
Fellow Federationists:
I am writing to you to let you know that the fact
sheets for the 2010 Washington Seminar are now on
the NFB Web site. They can be found on the "NFB
2010 Washington Seminar" page at
http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Washington_Seminar.asp.
For your convenience, the fact sheets are also
attached to this e-mail. The hot issues for the 2010 seminar are:
-- Passage of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act;
-- Passage of a Technology Bill of Rights for the Blind; and
-- Passage of the Blind Persons Return to Work Act.
Please review these fact sheets in
preparation for your appointments during
Washington Seminar. We expect that bills related
to the Technology Bill of Rights and a Senate
companion bill to the Blind Persons Return to
Work Act will soon be introduced. When these
bills are introduced, the fact sheets will be
updated to include that information.
Should you have questions, I have
included my contact information at the bottom of
this message. I look forward to seeing all of
you at Washington Seminar as we work towards
passage of these crucial issues. Once again,
thank you in advance for all of your hard work.
Jesse M. Hartle
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2233
E-mail: jharle at nfb.org
JMH/wmb
Attachments
Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans:
Priorities for the 111th Congress, SECOND Session
The National Federation of the Blind
(NFB) is the oldest and largest organization of
blind people in the United States. As the Voice
of the Nation's Blind, we represent the
collective views of blind people throughout
society. All of our leaders and the vast
majority of our members are blind, but anyone can
participate in our movement. There are an
estimated 1.3 million blind people in the United
States, and every year approximately 75,000
Americans become blind. The social and economic
consequences of blindness affect not only blind
people, but also our families, our friends, and our coworkers.
Three legislative initiatives demand
the immediate attention of the 111th Congress in its second session:
1. We urge Congress to ensure
the safety of blind and other pedestrians by
passing the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement
Act. This legislation would require the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to:
·
begin a study within ninety days of its enactment
to determine the most practical means of assuring
that blind and other pedestrians receive
essentially similar information to that which
they now receive from sound emitted by internal combustion engines;
·
determine the minimum amount of sound necessary
to offer sufficient information for blind
pedestrians to make safe travel judgments, based
on appropriate scientific research and
consultation with blind Americans and other affected groups;
·
within two years of beginning the study,
promulgate a motor vehicle safety standard to
address the needs of blind and other pedestrians
by requiring either a minimum level of sound or
an equally effective means of providing the same
information as is available from hearing internal combustion engines; and
·
apply the standard to all motor vehicles
manufactured or sold in the United States
beginning no later than two years after the date it is promulgated.
2. We urge Congress to work with
blind Americans to create a Technology Bill of
Rights for the Blind that mandates that consumer
electronics, home appliances, kiosks, and
electronic office technology provide user
interfaces that are accessible through nonvisual
means. This legislation should:
·
mandate that all consumer electronics, home
appliances, kiosks, and electronic office
technology be designed so that blind people can
access the same functions as sighted people
through nonvisual means and with substantially equivalent ease of use;
·
create a commission comprised of essential
stakeholders to establish standards for nonvisual
accessibility of electronic devices intended for use in the home or office;
·
endow the Department of Justice with the
authority to enforce the regulations promulgated
by the commission established by this legislation; and
·
authorize the commission to reexamine and rewrite
standards periodically as consumer electronic technology continues to evolve.
3. We urge Congress to promote
and facilitate the transition by blind Americans
from recipients of Social Security Disability
Insurance benefits to income-earning, tax-paying,
productive members of the American workforce by enacting legislation to:
· replace the monthly earnings penalty
with a graduated three-for-one phase-out (i.e., a
$1 reduction in benefits for each $3 earned above the limit);
· replace the monthly earnings test with
an annualized earnings test in an amount equal to
twelve times the Substantial Gainful Activity amount; and
· establish an impairment-related work
expense deduction for blind Social Security
Disability Insurance beneficiaries equal to the
amount applicable for this deduction when
determining an appropriate income subsidy under
Medicare Part D or 16.3 percent of earnings, whichever is greater.
For more information about these
priorities, please consult the attached fact sheets.
Blind Americans need your help to
achieve our goals of economic security, increased
opportunity, and full integration into American
society on a basis of equality. Enactment of
these legislative proposals will represent
important steps toward reaching these goals. We
need the help and support of each member of
Congress. Our success benefits not only us, but
the whole of America as well. In this time of
national economic insecurity, these measures will
contribute to increasing the tax base and
encouraging the purchase of consumer goods.
ENHANCING PEDESTRIAN SAFETY:
ENSURING THE BLIND CAN CONTINUE
TO TRAVEL SAFELY AND INDEPENDENTLY
Purpose: To enact the Pedestrian Safety
Enhancement Act, which will establish a motor
vehicle safety standard to alert blind and other
pedestrians of the presence of silent hybrid and electric vehicles.
Background: Until recently independent travel
for the blind has been a relatively simple matter
once a blind person has been trained in travel
techniques and has learned to use a white cane or
to travel with a guide dog. Blind people listen
to the sound of automobile engines to determine
the direction, speed, and pattern of
traffic. Sounds from traffic tell blind
pedestrians how many vehicles are near them and
how fast they are moving; whether the vehicles
are accelerating or decelerating; and whether the
vehicles are traveling toward, away from, or
parallel to them. With all of this information
blind people can accurately determine when it is
safe to advance into an intersection or across a
driveway or parking lot. The information
obtained from listening to traffic sounds allows
blind people to travel with complete confidence
and without assistance. Studies have shown that
sighted pedestrians also use auditory information when traveling.
Over the past few years, however, vehicles that
are completely silent in certain modes of
operation have come on the market, and many more
silent vehicles are expected in the near
future. These vehicles are designed to have many
benefits, including improved fuel efficiency and
reduced emissions, but they do not need to be
silent in order to achieve these intended
benefits. An unintended consequence of these
vehicles as they are currently designed is that
they endanger the safety, not only of blind
people, but also of small children, seniors, cyclists, and runners.
Need for Congressional Action: For several years
the National Federation of the Blind has been
concerned about the proliferation of silent
vehicles. These concerns were validated by a
recent report from the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, which concluded that at
low speeds hybrid and electric vehicles are twice
as likely to be involved in accidents with
pedestrians as vehicles with internal combustion
engines. Recently automobile manufacturers have
acknowledged the dangers posed to blind
pedestrians by silent-vehicle technology and have
begun to work with the National Federation of the
Blind to craft solutions. While participation
from some manufacturers is an important first
step, many others continue to take a wait-and-see
approach on this important issue. Congress must
therefore direct the Department of Transportation
to take action. It is crucial that this problem
be addressed before the inevitable avalanche of
tragedies involving blind people (including newly
blinded veterans), small children, seniors,
cyclists, and runners shocks the nation.
Proposed Legislation: The Pedestrian Safety
Enhancement Act (H.R. 734 and S. 841) was
introduced by Congressmen Towns and Stearns in
the House and by Senators Kerry and Specter in
the Senate. This legislation directs the
secretary of transportation to conduct a study
and establish a motor vehicle safety standard
that provides a means of alerting blind and other
pedestrians of motor vehicle operation based on
appropriate scientific research and consultation
with blind Americans and other affected
groups. This national motor vehicle safety
standard must have the following characteristics:
a.. In all phases of operation (including
times when the vehicle is at a full stop),
pedestrians must be able to identify vehicles by nonvisual means.
b.. The motor vehicle safety standard must
also provide pedestrians with the range of
information that is currently provided by
combustion engines, including whether the vehicle
is idling, maintaining a constant speed, accelerating, or decelerating.
The standard need not prescribe the apparatus,
technology, or method to be used by vehicle
manufacturers to achieve the required safety
standard. This approach will encourage
manufacturers to use innovative and
cost-effective techniques to achieve the motor vehicle safety standard.
Automobiles that operate in complete silence
endanger the safety of all of us; silent
operation should be viewed as a design flaw
comparable to the lack of seat belts or air bags,
and therefore this safety issue must be addressed.
Requested Action: Please support blind Americans
by cosponsoring the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement
Act to authorize the U.S. Department of
Transportation to establish and promulgate
regulations specifying a motor vehicle safety
standard for all new automobiles sold in the
United States. In the House of Representatives
members can be added by contacting Emily Khoury
in Congressman Towns's office, or James Thomas in
Congressman Stearns's office. In the Senate
members can be added as cosponsors by contacting
Doug Frost in Senator Kerry's office.
Contact Information:
Jesse Hartle
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2233
Email: jhartle at nfb.org
A TECHNOLOGY BILL OF RIGHTS FOR THE BLIND
Purpose: To mandate that consumer electronics,
home appliances, kiosks, and electronic office
technology provide user interfaces that are
accessible through nonvisual means.
Background: In recent years rapid advances in
microchip and digital technology have led to
increasingly complex user interfaces for everyday
products such as consumer electronics, home
appliances, kiosks, and electronic office
technology. Many new devices in these categories
require interaction with visual displays,
on-screen menus, touch screens, and other user
interfaces that are inaccessible to individuals
who are blind or have low vision. Settings on
the stove, dishwasher, or home entertainment
system are no longer controlled by knobs,
switches, and buttons that can be readily
identified and whose settings can be easily
discerned. Inaccessibility of these devices is a
major barrier to a blind person's independence
and productivity. If a blind person cannot
operate the interfaces of basic office equipment
such as copiers and fax machines, this is a
potential threat to that person's opportunity to
join the workforce or to maintain an existing job.
Many popular nonvisual mechanisms are available
for manufacturers to create interfaces accessible
to everyone. For example, text-to-speech
technology is inexpensive and more ubiquitous
than it has ever been-it is used in everything
from automated telephone systems to the weather
forecasting service broadcast by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Indeed,
a few manufacturers have incorporated this
technology into their products to create talking
menus or to articulate what is on the display
screen, but many manufacturers have continued to
design interfaces that do not include any
nonvisual means of use, rendering the devices inaccessible to blind people.
Need for Legislation: Currently no enforceable
mandates exist for manufacturers of consumer
electronics, home appliances, kiosks, and
electronic office technology to make their
products accessible to all consumers. There are
also no accessibility standards to provide
guidance to manufacturers on how to avoid
creating barriers to access by the blind.
Congress should therefore enact a Technology Bill
of Rights for the Blind which:
a.. establishes that manufacturers must create
accessible user interfaces for their products,
b.. provides a means for enforcement, and
c.. establishes standards that will provide
meaningful benchmarks that manufacturers can use
to make their products accessible.
This legislation does not mandate a single,
one-size-fits-all solution for all consumer
technology, home appliances, kiosks, or
electronic office technology. Rather it mandates
regulations setting meaningful accessibility
standards that allow manufacturers to select from
a menu of potential solutions or create new
ones. This will not only give manufacturers the
freedom and flexibility they desire, but will
also encourage innovations that make consumer
technology more usable for everyone.
Proposed Legislation: Congress should enact a
Technology Bill of Rights for the Blind that:
a.. Mandates that all consumer electronics,
home appliances, kiosks, and electronic office
technology be designed so that blind people are
able to access the same functions as sighted
people by nonvisual means and with substantially equivalent ease of use.
a.. Creates a commission to establish
standards for nonvisual accessibility of
electronic devices intended for use in the home
or office. Such a commission should represent all stakeholders, including:
- organizations of the blind;
- manufacturers of consumer electronics,
home appliances, kiosks, and electronic office
technology, or associations representing such manufacturers; and
- experts on universal design,
electronic engineering, and related fields.
a.. Endows the Department of Justice with the
authority to enforce the regulations promulgated
by the commission established by this legislation.
a.. Authorizes the commission to reexamine and
rewrite standards periodically as consumer
electronic technology continues to evolve.
Requested Action: Please support blind Americans
and cosponsor a Technology Bill of Rights for the
Blind to ensure that blind people can fully
participate in all aspects of American
society. Increased access leads to increased
independence, increased employment, and increased tax revenue.
Contact Information:
Lauren McLarney
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2207
Email: lmclarney at nfb.org
REMOVING THE EARNINGS PENALTY:
A COMMON SENSE WORK INCENTIVE
FOR BLIND SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES
Purpose: To promote and facilitate the
transition by blind Americans from Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
beneficiaries to income-earning, taxpaying,
productive members of the American workforce.
Background: The unemployment rate for
working-age blind people is over 70
percent. Part of the reason for this
disproportionately high statistic is the myths
and misconceptions about the true capacities of
blind people. These erroneous perceptions are
manifested when employers refuse to hire the
blind. Low societal expectations result in low
representation of the blind in the workforce.
In addition, governmental programs intended to
provide economic security to blind workers during
periods of unemployment, especially the SSDI
program, have had the unintended consequence of
creating an incentive for blind people to remain
unemployed or underemployed, despite their desire to work.
Despite the efforts of the National Federation of
the Blind, blindness still has profound social
and economic consequences. Governmental programs
should encourage blind people to reach their full
employment potential; they should not encourage economic dependence.
Existing Law: Title II of the Social Security
Act provides that disability benefits paid to
blind beneficiaries are eliminated if the
beneficiary exceeds a monthly earnings
limit. This earnings limit is in effect a
penalty imposed on blind Americans when they
work. This penalty imposed by the SSDI program
means that, if a blind person earns just $1 over
$1,640 (the monthly limit in 2010 following a
Trial Work Period), all benefits are lost.
Section 216(i)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act
defines blindness as a disability based on
objective measurement of acuity and visual field,
as opposed to the subjective criterion of
inability to perform Substantial Gainful Activity
(SGA). For blind people, doing work valued at
the SGA earnings limit terminates benefits but
does not terminate disability. Only blind people
not working or those with work earnings below an
annually adjusted statutory earnings limit receive benefits.
Need for Legislation: When a blind person enters
the workforce, there is no guarantee that wages
earned will replace SSDI benefits after taxes are
paid and work expenses are deducted. For
example, Jane worked as a customer service
representative with an annual income of $35,000
until she became blind from diabetic
retinopathy. Jane meets the criteria for SSDI
benefits, which provide income of $1,060 a month
(or $12,720 a year) tax-free while she is not
working. Jane wants additional income to meet
her financial needs. After an adjustment period
and blindness skills training, she finds
employment as a part-time representative making
$10 an hour for thirty-five hours a week. Jane
grosses $350 a week for an average of $1,517 a
month. Using a conservative 25 percent
withholding tax, Jane nets $1,137.50 from her
work, combined with her $1,060 disability
benefit, for a net total of $2,197.50 a
month. If Jane should have the opportunity to
work full time (forty hours), her weekly salary
would go up to $400 a week for a monthly average
of $1,733. This amount is over the 2010 earnings
limit, so Jane loses all of her disability
benefits. Using the same 25 percent tax level,
Jane nets only $1,300 a month-working an extra
five hours a week has cost Jane $897.50 net
income (over $10,500 a year). This example
illustrates the work disincentive contained in current law.
A gradual reduction of $1 in benefits for every
$3 earned over the earnings limit would remove
the earnings penalty and provide a financial
incentive to work. The benefit amount paid to an
individual will gradually decrease, while the
individual's contribution to the Social Security
trust fund increases over time. Under this
approach, as Jane earns more, she pays more into
the trust fund, and her dependence on benefits decreases.
Monthly earnings evaluations are unnecessarily
complicated for both the beneficiaries and the
Social Security Administration. Since the
medical prognosis for blind people rarely changes
and because blindness is objectively measurable,
blind people should be subject to an annual
earnings test with the limit equal to twelve
times the applicable monthly SGA amount.
Under current law blind workers frequently pay
for items and services related to their blindness
that are necessary for them to work, and they are
permitted to subtract these Impairment-Related
Work Expenses (IRWE) from monthly earnings when
determining monthly income. Properly crediting
IRWE poses a serious challenge to the SSDI
program and creates a lack of predictability for
the blind person trying to determine whether
benefits will be available. To address both
issues, Congress should permit SSDI recipients to
claim the same amount used when determining an
income subsidy under the Medicare prescription
drug program, currently 16.3 percent of earnings.
Proposed Legislation: Congress should enact legislation to:
· provide that earnings of
blind SSDI beneficiaries in excess of the annual
earnings limit result in a gradual benefit
reduction of $1 for each $3 earned over the limit;
· establish an annual
earnings test for blind SSDI beneficiaries; and
· establish one standard IRWE
deduction for blind SSDI beneficiaries equal to
the amount presently applicable for this
deduction when determining an appropriate income
subsidy under the Medicare prescription drug
program or 16.3 percent of earnings, whichever is greater.
Requested Action: For the House, please
cosponsor the Blind Persons Return to Work Act
(H.R. 886) by contacting Michaeleen Crowell in
Rep. John Lewis's office, and provide a common
sense work incentive for blind Social Security
beneficiaries. For the Senate please consider
introducing companion legislation.
Contact Information:
Lauren McLarney
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2207
Email: lmclarney at nfb.org
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