[NFBAZ-EastValleyChapter] NFB Legislative Alert And Washington Seminar Information

Sat Dec 3 23:53:49 UTC 2016

Hello East Valley,
I wanted to bring a Legislative alert to your attention from Parnell Diggs (Director Of Governmental Affairs) for the National Federation Of The Blind.
He would like us to contact our house representatives to ask them for their help in supporting the AIM HE ACT as well as the TIME ACT.
The following links will help you find who your Arizona legislators are.  Go to http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp and follow the instructions given.     Next, go to Member Roster, where you can find the contact information for your representatives. 

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Member Roster
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  For those that do not have access to a computer, or do not feel comfortable searching with a computer, you can also call the House information desk at the following number:  House Info Desk: (602) 926-3559
We ask that you take a few minutes to educate yourselves on this legislation below. If you are able to get in contact with your congressional representatives either by phone or email please tell us. We love to hear about your experiences with our representatives.  be sure to CC our state affiliate president Donald Porterfield at: donaldpfield at cox.net as well as Megan Homrighausen East Valley Chapter President at: megan.homrighausen at yahoo.com with any letters that are written to representatives. 
AIM HE Act or Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education 

(AIM HE) Act (H.R. 6122)

From: https://nfb.org/aim_he

The AIM HE ACT:
1) Authorizes a purpose-based commission to develop accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional materials and related information technology so that those materials are accessible to students with print disabilities. Additionally, the commission will develop an annotated list of national and international accessibility standards so that schools and developers can identify what makes a product usable by the blind.2) Provides an incentive for schools to follow the guidelines by offering a safe harbor from litigation. Any school that only uses technology that conforms to the guidelines will be in compliance with current disability laws. For those instances where accessible technology is simply not yet available, instances that will continue to diminish in frequency as accessible instructional materials become more mainstream, there is a limited safe harbor protection for institutions that otherwise adhere to existing disability law as well as certain additional requirements as described in the AIM HE Act.3) Restates that schools are still obligated to meet the equal access mandate under current law. Guidelines are one voluntary path to compliance with the law, but schools are permitted to pursue other paths to compliance (although those paths do not come with the legal protections of a safe harbor or limited safe harbor). This offers flexibility and leaves room for innovation without compromising print disabled students’ right to equal access.The AIM HE Act addresses the problem of inaccessible instructional materials in post-secondary education. Technology holds the promise of equal access for students with disabilities, but the overwhelming majority of university websites, digital books, PDFs, learning management systems, lab software, and online research journals are inaccessible to students with print disabilities. Through the AIM HE Act’s collaborative legislative approach, with direct input from people with disabilities, non-profit organizations that service our community, institutions of higher education, and developers and manufacturers of these technologies, the AIM HE Act will revolutionize digital accessibility of postsecondary electronic instructional materials. 
Time ACT or Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act (H.R. 188) (S. 2001) 
From: Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities | National Federation of the Blind

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Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities | National Federation of the Blind
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Current labor laws unjustly prohibit workers with disabilities from reaching their full vocational and socioeconomic potential.Written in 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) discriminates against people with disabilities. The provision allows the Secretary of Labor to grant Special Wage Certificates to employers, permitting them to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. This is based on the false assumption that disabled workers are less productive than nondisabled workers, but successful employment models have emerged in the last seventy-five years to assist people with significant disabilities in acquiring the job skills needed for competitive work. Section 14(c) sustains segregated subminimum wage workshops that exploit disabled workers, paying some only pennies an hour for mundane, repetitive tasks.The subminimum wage model fails to provide adequate training or employment to disabled workers. Data shows that less than five percent of the four-hundred thousand workers with disabilities in segregated subminimum wage workshops will transition into competitive integrated work. Moreover, research shows that the subminimum wage model costs more but actually produces less! In fact, workers must unlearn the useless skills they acquire in order to obtain meaningful employment. It is poor policy to reward such failed programs with wage exemptions, preferential federal contracts, and public and charitable contributions.After more than seventy-five years of demonstrated failure, it is time to invest in proven, effective models for employment. Section 14(c) sustains the same segregated subminimum wage environments that existed in 1938 and has proven to be extremely ineffective and offers no incentive for mainstream employers to hire people with disabilities. The EmploymentFirst Movement promotes new concepts such as “supported” or “customized” employment that are successful at producing competitive integrated employment outcomes for individuals with significant disabilities that were previously thought to be unemployable.The Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act will responsibly phase out Section 14(c) over a three year period and will eventually repeal the antiquated and discriminatory practice of paying people with disabilities subminimum wages. Americans with disabilities will no longer be trapped in segregated subminimum wage workshops. Current service providers will have three years to transition to a proven competitive integrated training and employment business model that assists individuals with even the most significant disabilities obtain real jobs at real wages.To learn more about the issue and the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act, please read our frequently asked questions document.
This legislation will be addressed at our Washington Seminar. If you are interested in attending the Washington Seminar the East Valley Chapter will be assisting three members to go. These chosen members will receive $500 each to help cover some of the costs associated with travel. If you are interested in going and need assistance please contact Megan Homrighausen by phone or email. 

Our state affiliate will be assisting members as well. To be considered for affiliate assistance please email our state president Donald Porterfield at: donaldpfield at cox.net.
For more information on the Washington Seminar please visit: Washington Seminar | National Federation of the Blind

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Washington Seminar | National Federation of the Blind
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Thank you.

Sincerely, Megan Homrighausen East Valley Chapter President NFBA 480-510-6196
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