[Nfbf-l] Thank you to put presidents & news

[Denise Valkema]

As yesterday was Presidents' Day, I want to thank our chapter presidents for all you do for your chapters and the affiliate. We are blessed to be shaped by each other. Together we are building the NFBF.

Please personally thank your chapter presidents and see President Riccobono's message below, including some news.

Dear Fellow Federationists,

Yesterday was Presidents' Day so let me take this opportunity to thank our presidents for all of the hours of work, boundless energy, and stimulating imagination you put into our organization. It is truly an honor to serve with individuals who are willing to bring their diverse perspectives to a place of mutually beneficial organizational policy. I sometimes talk about how important it is to be shaped by the members around us even as we help to shape them. I feel blessed that you continue to shape my work on a daily basis.


News:
Marrakesh Treaty:
Last week President Obama transmitted the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled treaty to the United States Senate for ratification. The Marrakesh Treaty was officially proposed in 2009, successfully adopted in June 2013 by the World Intellectual Property Organization, and signed by the United States in October 2013. For more information on the treaty, please visithttps://nfb.org/marrakeshfactsheet.
 
Access to Absentee Ballots:
We learned last week that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Judicial Circuit upheld the ruling in National Federation of the Blind et al. vs. Linda H. Lamone et al. requiring the state of Maryland to make an accessible online ballot-marking tool available to blind voters who wished to vote by absentee ballot.
 
Medicare and Medicaid Lawsuit:
We have filed a federal lawsuit charging the US Department of Health and Human Services through its sub-agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and its CMS sub-contractors, with systemically violating the civil rights of blind Medicare recipients. The action seeks to require HHS to provide blind individuals meaningful and equally effective access to their Medicare information. More information is available in the press release.
 

Sincerely, Denise Valkema, President NFBF