[IL-Talk] Chicago Chapter Minutes, February 8, 2025

[Deborah Kent Stein]

NFBI Chicago Chapter Meeting

February 8, 2025

DGIFridays, 153 E. Erie St.

Chicago, IL

 

CALL TO ORDER

 

Chicago Chapter First Vice President Patti Chang called the meeting to order
at 1 PM. She explained that she would chair the meeting, as President Denise
Avant could not attend, due to a family emergency. 

 

Persons in attendance were Michal Nowicki, Marco Giannotti, Edward Ocampo,
Mary Grunwald, Francisco Chang, Dustin Cather, Kira O'Bradovitch, Ken Borst,
Jemal Powell, first-timer Eric Sykes, Steve Hastalis, John Holtgreve, Bill
Reif, and Michelle Ault. On Zoom were Robert Hansen, Marilyn Green, Crystal
Smith, Gary Jones, Dan Tevelde, Bob Widman, Eileen Truschke, Ken Schad, Ed
Birmingham, Bart Hickey, Melissa Fuller, Glenn Moore, Steve Hastalis, and
Dave Meyer. Steve shared the sad news of the passing of his long-time friend
Holly Frisch of Virginia.

 

PROGRAM

 

Dustin Cather presented a program about the 2025 Washington Seminar, which
took place February 3-6. Illinois delegates joined Federationists from
across the country to advocate for our legislative priorities. This year the
Illinois team consisted of Marilyn Green, Kaitlyn Ryan, Tanesia Bowman,
Michelle Ault, Olivia Cichowlas, Jean Johnson, Abbu Elfaki, and Haran Wen.
Dustin thanked Dave Meyer for his efforts scheduling meetings with reps and
their staffers. This year scheduling appointments was even more challenging
than usual. 

 

The team prepared to present three legislative issues: the Blind Americans
Return to Work Act, the Website and Software Applications Accessibility Act,
and the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act. At the Great Gathering
In the team learned about a surprise initiative, protection of existing laws
pertaining to the blind. These laws include the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
IDEA of 1975, the ADA of 1990, and various programs that provide funding and
services to help us as blind people live our lives. The Governmental Affairs
team emphasized the need for us to focus on protecting these existing laws.
Marilyn said that the legislators she met with seemed to understand how
changes in these laws could have an impact on blind people. There was also
some discussion about the National Library Service (NLS). If meeting time
was limited, delegates were told to spend the entire meeting talking about
the critical need to protect these existing pieces of legislation. Marilyn
said that, in the meetings she attended, the reps seemed to be very aware of
the existing laws that affect our community, and there was time to discuss
our other initiatives as well. 

 

Michelle added that delegates had to think on their feet because of the
sudden change in the agenda. She reported that the students on her team were
very articulate about how IDEA and the ADA affected their lives. They also
talked about rehabilitation programs and programs for the older blind. The
last-minute change in priorities showed that our team was very
knowledgeable. 

 

Patti added that we can look up our issues at nfb.org/washington-seminar.
Michelle said she really gained confidence through the whole experience.
Marilyn said she felt that reps really wanted to understand our issues.
Patti was very impressed that we got Texas Rep. Pete Sessions to speak to us
at our Great Gathering In. He has a child with a disability, so he has been
very empathic. We gave him an award this year. So far Randolph-Sheppard has
been untouched by the cuts, but many other programs that affect blind
vendors have been affected. 

 

Jemal asked whether anyone had raised concerns about the president's
disparaging comments about air traffic controllers with disabilities. Patti
said that NFB responded directly to the president's comments about the
Wichita plane crash, taking issue with the idea that hiring people with
disabilities is done strictly to satisfy DEI requirements.

 

Marilyn said that congressional switchboards used to received about 40 calls
a minute. They now are bombarded with up to 1600 calls per minute! As
constituents we all are making our voices heard! 

 

Marilyn explained that in Illinois we make an effort to select delegates to
Washington Seminar from all regions of the state. We also try to include
blind merchants and blind students. We are beginning to include the Courtesy
Rules of Blindness in the folders that we give to representatives and their
staffers.

 

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE

 

The February 2025 Presidential Release, Number 546, was recorded on January
29. NFB President Mark Riccobono spoke about our legislative work and
encouraged all of us to be engaged. He pointed out that our national
convention sets the priorities for our organization, and our Board of
Directors is responsible for carrying out those priorities. The National
Board works to help states implement our national policies, such as our
efforts to eliminate the 14C exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act
and to advance new legislation through model bills. For Washington Seminar
the National Board traditionally has selected three issues to be presented
by our delegations. For the 119th Congress the board has prioritized the
three pieces of legislation that were our focus in the previous legislative
session. Our concerns transcend changes in administration. He assured us
that the Federation will carefully analyze any new or proposed policies that
may affect us as blind people. We must be careful not to over-react when
action is not yet needed. However, we must also be vigilant for policies
that may be harmful to us. We are monitoring many items, and Federationists
will be mobilized whenever needed. 

 

Our priorities for the 119th Congress are the Website and Software
Applications Accessibility Act, the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility
Act, and the Blind Americans Return to Work Act. We also will hand out
information about our Transition to Competitive and Integrated Employment
Act, the Access Technology Affordability Act, and the Equal Access to
Autonomous Vehicles Act, as well as other issues. 

President Riccobono urged all of us to become as informed as possible about
issues that affect our community.

 

MIDWEST STUDENT SEMINAR

 

Patti announced that we will not hold a chapter meeting in March, as in
March Chicago will host the Midwest Student Seminar. Our next meeting will
take place in April. 

 

FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE

 

Fundraising Committee Chair Dave Meyer thanked everyone who took part in the
comedy club fundraiser in January. The next committee meeting will take
place on February 11 at 7:30. The committee will plan events and activities
for the coming year.

 

NEW MEMBER

 

First-time attendee Eric Sykes paid his chapter dues. The chapter voted
unanimously to welcome him as a new member.

 

LEGISLATION

 

Marilyn was happy to announce that on January 21 Gov. JB Pritzker signed our
Dignity in Pay Act, which rules out the payment of subminimum wage to
workers with disabilities. She and Denise Avant attended the press
conference at Access Living. 

 

PROGRAMS

 

Marilyn noted that Rehab is paying for Illinois students to attend the
Midwest Student Seminar. We are holding our first STEM 2 U program on August
23, coordinated by Aihua Sprecher and assisted by Debbie Stein. We will host
two BELL programs: Chicago BELL, July 21 through August 1 at the Chicago
Lighthouse; and Springfield BELL at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in
Springfield, August 4-8. Encourage children ages 4-12 to apply. The Chicago
program is a day program, and Springfield is a residential program. Bridget
Hickey will be our lead teacher in Chicago with assistant Carson Cross.
Carson will be the lead teacher in Springfield, assisted by Abbu Elfaki. 

 

Applications are rolling in for our national and state scholarship programs,
so please spread the word! To learn more about the national program visit
nfb.org/scholarships. Information about the Illinois program can be found at
nfbofillinois.org/scholarships. Eligible students are encouraged to apply to
both programs. 

 

National Convention will take place July 8-13 in New Orleans. Register and
make your room registrations as soon as possible. More information is
available in the Braille Monitor.

 

We will hold a state board meeting on February 19 at 7 PM. All are welcome
to call in. Our face-to-face board meeting will take place on August 24. It
will be on a Sunday to accommodate STEM 2 U, which takes place the day
before. Our NFBI State Convention is scheduled for the weekend of October
17-19. 

 

Marilyn urged all of us to join the PAC Plan. She sang the PAC song to lift
everyone's spirits. 

 

ELECTIONS

 

Patti reminded everyone that we will hold our annual chapter elections in
April. In order for a member to vote, their dues must be up to date. Kira
will be happy to collect dues. 

 

TREASURER'S REPORT

 

Chicago Chapter Treasurer Kira O'Bradovitch reported that we have $5,023.84
in the treasury. We are still waiting for $965 to come in from our Comedy
Night fundraiser. The chapter collection brought in $32, and we received $5
dues from our newest member. With the Comedy Night income, our balance will
be $6,025.84. All of the payments from Washington Seminar have been
deducted. 

 

ADVOCACY COMMITTEE

 

Kira reported that the Advocacy Committee met last week. Unfortunately we
have not been able to schedule another meeting with the CTA board member who
has been helping us. We plan to attend one of the CTA board meetings on
March 12. All are welcome to attend or to make statements. Information will
be posted on IL-Talk. We need a tactile sign at each bus stop, even if audio
information is also made available.

 

SECRETARY'S MINUTES

 

Jemal moved and several seconded approval of the January secretary's
minutes. The minutes were approved.

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

At the April meeting we will have a report on the Eataly class in which
several members took part in January. 

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

Marilyn thanked Patti for conducting the meeting in Denise's absence. Patti
noted that the meeting is a team effort. That's how we do things in the
Federation!

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

By unanimous agreement the meeting adjourned at 2:34 PM. 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Stein, Secretary   



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