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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Abolishing commission for blind
people could mean lawsuit</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">March 2, 2012<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>|</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Paul Egan</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">By</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Paul Egan</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Detroit Free Press Lansing
Bureau</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Lansing</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Rick Snyder</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Farmington Hills</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">University Of Michigan</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">list end</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">LANSING -- A dispute over an
ordered shake-up in services for blind people could evolve into a legal test of
Gov. Rick Snyder's executive authority, a prominent</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">blind attorney said Thursday.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Richard Bernstein of Farmington
Hills, who has brought disability cases against the University of Michigan,
Delta Air Lines and the Detroit Department of</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Transportation, said he is
researching a possible federal lawsuit against Snyder for his executive order
last week abolishing the Michigan Commission for</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">the Blind.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"This was probably the most
inconsiderate, mean-spirited, hostile thing that you could do to people whose
lives are already made challenging," said Bernstein,</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">a Democrat who unsuccessfully
sought the nomination for state attorney general in 2010.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">More than a dozen blind people
and supporters protested Thursday outside Snyder's Lansing office.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Snyder said last week that his
reorganization will improve efficiencies and services to blind people. Mario
Morrow, a spokesman for the Department of Licensing</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">and Regulatory Affairs, said
Thursday that the administration is "researching and evaluating the
concerns."</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Advocates for blind people say
Snyder's change violates federal rules; puts at risk nearly $15 million in
federal rehabilitation and training funds, and</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">oversteps executive authority by
abolishing a commission established by the Legislature in 1978 that gave blind
Michigan residents a role in decisions</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">that affect them.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Snyder's plan moves services for
blind people out of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and splits them. The
Department of Human Services takes over vocational</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">rehabilitation services, and the
Department of Technology, Management and Budget becomes responsible for
licensing blind vendors who operate in state buildings</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">and rest areas.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Source:</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">http://www.freep.com/article/20120302/NEWS15/203020338/Abolishing-commission-for-blind-people-could-mean-lawsuit</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>