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Snyder rescinds order on services for blind people

 

April 24, 2012  |

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Gov. Rick Snyder's executive order was to take effect today.

 

Gov. Rick Snyder's executive order was to take effect today. / Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press

Paul Egan

 

Paul Egan

Free Press Lansing Staff

 

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

 

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LANSING -- Gov. Rick Snyder rescinded a shake-up Monday that he had ordered in state services for blind people -- proposed changes that had provoked loud

protests and threats of a lawsuit from Michigan's blind community.

 

The executive order, issued Feb. 24, would have abolished the Michigan Commission for the Blind and replaced it with an advisory committee. It was due to

take effect today, when a 60-day notice period ended.

 

"We are committed to meeting the needs of Michigan residents with disabilities," Snyder said in a news release.

 

He said a replacement executive order will be delayed to allow more time for dialogue with federal officials and advocates for blind people in Michigan.

 

Critics said the original order lacked consultation. They said aspects of the plan, including the proposed move of a small business program for blind people

from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, threatened federal funding.

 

Richard Bernstein, a blind Farmington Hills attorney who specializes in disability cases, told the Free Press in March he was researching a possible lawsuit.

On Monday, he said he has been in talks with the Snyder administration for several weeks about a revised executive order, and a basic agreement is in place.

 

The new order will maintain the commission as an autonomous body that will report to the governor and have investigative powers, Bernstein said. Four of

its members will be blind, he said. But the commission won't have all the powers it has today, he said.

 

Like the previous order, the new order will move most blind services to the Department of Human Services from Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, he said.

 

"I think both sides were committed to finding a really positive resolution," and this "is going to allow for a fresh start," Bernstein said.

 

The National Federation of the Blind and the Michigan Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired also have had input on the new order, officials said.

 

The Commission for the Blind, established in 1978, served 2,750 residents during the 2010 fiscal year.

 

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or

pegan at freepress.com