[CCCNFBW] Senate Bills

[Marci Carpenter]

Hello Julie and other members,

Thanks for being interested and asking this question. Our bills have not yet  been passed so we still need to contact our Senators and Representatives to urge them to cosponsor all three pieces of legislation. It sometimes takes several years for the kind of bills we promote to get through Congress. The Access Technology Affordability Act has gained many cosponsors through this winter and spring. It now has over 100 cosponsors in the House. That means it has reached a point where it is more likely to get a hearing. We still need many more cosponsors, though. As of today Representatives Dan Newhouse and Suzan DelBene from Washington state are signed on as cosponsors of ATAA. I have sent emails to Jaime Herrera Beutler‘s staff but it really helps if people who live in her district contact her directly. Those emails and phone calls can come from any member of our organization or anyone else who wants to support our legislative work. They should, in fact, come from many members and not just myself or other elected leaders. Neither Senator Murray nor Senator Cantwell are signed on to cosponsor ATAA. 

The other cosponsors we currently have from Washington state are Senator Maria Cantwell (AIM HIGH) and Representative Suzan DelBene (GAIN).

I encourage everyone to contact Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell as well as Representative Herrera Beutler (or others if you live in another congressional district). You can contact them by phone or email. I am happy to help anyone who needs contact information for any of these folks. When sending emails I always identify myself and include my affiliation with the National Federation of the Blind. I then briefly tell them What I want from them or think them for something they have done. I always include a sentence or two about how a particular piece of legislation will help me and other blind people.

I hope this is helpful to you, Julie, and also to others. Thank you to those who have sent emails or made calls to congressional offices. It’s also good to recontact an office even if you did so a couple months ago. I am always available to anyone needing help with email language or any other information.

Yours in the Federation,

Marci Carpenter, President
National Federation of the Blind of Washington
206-604-5507
mjc59 at comcast.net








Sent from Marci's iPhone

> On Jul 3, 2020, at 1:04 AM, Julie Goldbeck via CCCNFBW <cccnfbw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> In the April 2020 Braille Monitor they asked we contact our elected officials regarding the following bills.  Do we know if any of these bills passed? 
> 
> Access Technology Affordability Act H.R. 2086/S.815
> Greater Access and Independence through Nonvisual Access Technology 
> (GAIN) Act H.R.3929
> Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education 
> (AIM HIGH) Act H.R. 5312/S.3095
> 
> Julie Goldbeck
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