[IL-Talk] April at large minutes

[datemeyer at sbcglobal.net]

NFBI AT LARGE CHAPTER MINUTES

April 6th, 2025

ZOOM Meeting

CALL TO ORDER:

Persons in attendance were At Large President, David Meyer, Vice President
Linda Hendle, Bill Reif, Marilyn Green, Michal Nowicki, Addison Graham,
Dennis Devitt, Leslie Hamric, Jean Johnson, Eileen Truschke, Ken Schad,
Debbie Pittman, and Jemal Powell. The meeting started at 7:03 PM.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MARCH 2025

Bill Reif moved and Debbie Pittman seconded. All in favor said "Aye" and
March minutes were approved.

Debbie Pittman gave us an update on the Popcorn Fundraiser and it will be
ending tomorrow at 5:00PM.

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE

This is Presidential Release 548. It is the Chapter version.

We are reminded that it is important to ask questions and recognize that if
you don't ask questions about why we do what we do, you may be operating on
misinformation. President Riccobono often comes across members who have
operated on an assumption or what someone told them, someone who wasn't
well-informed about the Federation and why we do what we do. He encourages
all our members to ask those critical questions to really understand why we
do what we do. We can talk to members in our chapter and affiliate about any
questions. We can also reach out to the team at our National office, or our
membership committee for clarity on anything we are wondering about. One
great way to do that is to send your questions to membership at nfb.org , and
the membership committee will be pleased to get back with you and help you
get to the resources you need. We can also read the Braille Monitor to keep
up on all things Federation. We are also encouraged to continue to reach out
and onboard new members to the Federation so we can  keep building on the
great foundation that we have here.

We have some advocacy work that we have been doing. We discussed the fact
that the Medicare  telehealth provisions were set to expire at the end of
March at the last Presidential Release. On  March 5, we sent a letter to all
members of Congress urging that they prioritize making sure that  telehealth
benefits were extended. We called on Federation members to get the word out
to Congress,  and you did that. When Congress passed the most recent
continuing resolution last month, the  Medicare telehealth benefits were
included in the bill. Now, unfortunately, they were only made  permanent
through the end of the federal fiscal year, so through the end of September
2025. We  wrote a  letter urging that they be made permanent without having
to be revisited. So your calls,  your advocacy did be effective, but we need
you to continue to reach out to members of  Congress and to advocate that
these provisions be made permanent in a tangible way so that they don't
have to be revisited on a regular basis. We will continue to monitor this,
continue to press  Congress from our national office, but we need you to do
the same. Telehealth has been a great  benefit to many people and of course
certainly to blind people who face issues around  transportation. We will
continue to work on this, and we are being urged to continue to press
members of Congress on this.

On March 14th, the White House issued an executive order eliminating the
Institute for Museum and  Library Services. On March 19, we sent a letter to
the chairs of the ranking members of the House  and Senate Appropriation
Committees to educate them on the important function that the IMLS has,
especially as it relates to providing funding for libraries for the blind.
In many states, the  Regional Library for the Blind program is funded 100%
because of federal funds that come from the  IMLS program at the federal
level, and so many Regional Libraries for the Blind are facing very
dramatic shutdown.

We continue to monitor this and are concerned about it. We have been talking
to the National  Library Service, which of course is under the Library of
Congress, and that service at the moment  seems to be okay, but we're really
worried about what's going to happen in many states where state  funding is
not used or is only partially used to support the Library for the Blind
program.

All members are being urged to reach out to your members of Congress to
continue to talk with your  regional library to understand what the impact
is and to help advocate for the continuation of  those programs at the local
level. Now, as of today, we've learned that most of the staff at IMLS  has
been placed on administrative leave, and so the funding is uncertain at this
time, but we know  that the staff is on administrative leave and that is
being reviewed. We're going to have to  continue to monitor that daily.

On March 20, the White House issued an executive order to begin efforts to
close the Department of  Education. On March 25, we sent a letter to the
Secretary of Education asking for clarification and  urging her to maintain
a transition of critical programs for people with disabilities, especially
blind people, and enforcement of those programs in federal law. Those
programs that are housed in the  Department of Education currently include
all services related to the Individuals with Disabilities  Education Act and
those protections, the Federal Quota system operated by the American
Printing  House for the Blind, Vocational Rehabilitation, of course under
RSA and the Randolph Shepherd  Program, which creates business opportunities
for blind people, and finally, the Independent Living  Services Program for
older adults who are blind. We are continuing to monitor this and want the
programs to be preserved.

Moving on to Social Security, the Federation has been continually active
since late February and into  March as the Social Security Administration
announced a number of new policies and administrative,  drastic
administrative cuts that are going to have an impact on blind people and are
already having  an impact on blind people. These include a reduction of a
number of personnel, significant number  of personnel and offices, and
changes to the identification procedures and requirements that will  require
more beneficiaries to show up in person at offices, which creates an
additional burden and  the reinstatement of over-aggressive repayment
collection procedures under the Social Security  Administration. These are
all things directly impacting blind people. There are many members who  have
been waiting too long to hear about their benefits or their case, and this
is only going to  make the problem worse.

On March 26, we sent a letter to the Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
We're continuing to  do advocacy work with Congress. If you find
opportunities to do so, we would ask you to carry this  message forward as
well. We do expect to be taking additional action in this area. All our
policy letters can be found on the NFB website in our policies section. We
post all our letters  to Congress and to the departments in the executive
branch so that our members are aware of them  and keep up the advocacy work.
There's going to be a lot more to do to protect the programs that we  have
helped to establish in the federal government to support the independence of
blind people.

Presidential Riccobono talked specifically about our work in Congress
because we have been creating  great momentum there since our Washington
seminar. He discussed the Access Technology Affordability  Act, which is HR
1529, and that our momentum on this bill is tremendous. We picked up 14 new
co-sponsors bringing our total to 15 co-sponsors. We need to continue to
build our co-sponsors for  this legislation quite urgently because the
greater number of co-sponsors we have, the greater shot  that we must get
this bill incorporated into any tax bill reform that is going to be
considered  by Congress. We do know that there will be a tax package. We
want the Access Technology  Affordability Act to be included, so please very
urgently contact your members of Congress, get  their commitment, and get
them to sign on to be a co-sponsor of this bill in the house.

Over the last month or so we have been talking about the lawsuit known now
as Texas versus Kennedy.  As a reminder, this suit threatens to eliminate
our protections under Section 504 of the  Rehabilitation Act. Last month, I
told you about the case and urged our members in the 17 states  that have
participated in bringing this lawsuit to urge the governor, the attorney
general in those  states to withdraw their participation in the case. We
sent a letter to all 17 state's attorneys  general and governors on March 4.
We've also been encouraging members to reach out if you aren't in  those
states, and feel free to put the pressure on those states to get out of this
case, but of  course, if you live in the state, you're going to have a lot
more impact. We've also distributed a  draft resolution that affiliates can
pass that calls on the governor and attorney general to  withdraw from this
case and this attack on the Rehabilitation Act. So far, four of our 17
affiliates have passed that resolution either at a convention or through
their board of directors.  We will continue to monitor this. There is a
hearing coming up on April 21 that will give us a lot  more information
about where we need to go in our advocacy efforts, so please stay tuned. But
for  now, especially if you're in one of those 17 states, please take
efforts to urge the leadership in  your state to withdraw from this case,
which would have really damaging impacts on our protections  as blind people
in this country.

In addition to those things he wants to reiterate our work to reach out to
former federal  employees. A number of blind people were let go from the
federal government yesterday. We're  working with blind employees who have
been let go from the federal government. We want to hear from  them, so if
you know of people, please encourage them to fill out our form. Also, want
to let you  know that we did not say this because it was not public, but it
is today that the National  Federation of the Blind has joined with other
disability organizations to sue the Social Security  Administration over the
reductions in service that are going to have a harmful impact on blind
people. We are doing all that we can to protect the benefits that we have
fought so hard for blind  people and others to have from the federal
government so we can go out and live the lives we want.

Our convention in New Orleans will be a key place to discuss this work and
the work that will be  upcoming in the next few months, so please plan to be
with us in New Orleans at our convention in  July.

After the Presidential Release we had a brief overview of what the lawsuit
against the 504 case is  and Marilyn Green broke it down for our members.
Marilyn Green broke down the Texas vs. Kennedy  case so we could understand
it better. We can go to nfb.org to see information about the case as  well
as the 17 states that are involved. Debbie Pittman also shared some insight
on this case.

STATE PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Marilyn Green welcomed in new members that are on the call and encouraged
them to get on our email  list.

We have our NFB BELL Programs coming up, for children ages 4-12, at the
Chicago Lighthouse, July  21st thru August 1st. It is a two week day
program. August 4th thru August 8th we have our  Springfield BELL Program
which will be residential. BELL stands for Braille Enrichment for Literacy
and Learning. These programs are a fantastic opportunity for blind children
to have positive experiences  and it will help them keep their Braille
skills up. We have White Cane travel, field trips, and it  helps them build
a community so they know they are not the only ones that are blind. We look
forward to building independent blind students. We are looking for adult
Blind mentors who are  living independently, going to work, grocery
shopping, and doing all the things that we know blind  people can do. If you
are interested in being a Blind mentor or would like some information about
BELL you can contact our coordinator Debbie Stein at:  dkent587 at att.net  or
contact our assistant coordinator, Tasabah Elfaki at:
tasabih.elfaki at gmail.com .

We also have our STEM2U program that we are trying this year. It will be
held at the Chicago  Marriott Hotel in Naperville on August 23rd. We want to
show blind students that STEM is possible.  It is a day program and you can
contact Debbie or Tasabah if you have any questions. There is a fee
connected for the BELL program but there is not a fee for the STEM Program.
STEM stands for  Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This is a
day program.

The NFBI Board meeting is April 23rd, Wednesday at 7PM. It is a wonderful
way to find out what is going  on in the Affiliate, such as with
Scholarships, our youth and education programs, policies in the  NFBI and
what is going on in our Chapters. The agenda usually goes out about a week
prior to our  meeting.

We have our face to face board meeting on Sunday August 24th. We will start
at 9:00AM, take a lunch  break. and come back into session. The meeting
usually ends around 3:00PM. This will be at our  convention hotel which is
Chicago Marriott Hotel in Naperville. The website for information is
nfbofillinois.org/conventions.

We will have our State Convention on October 17th thru 19th . The State
Convention is also at the  Chicago Marriott Hotel in Naperville. The website
for information is nfbofillinois.org/convention.  Think about what you would
like to see there as far as presentations, break out sessions and please
let Marilyn Green know.

National Convention is July 8th thru the 13th in Louisiana at the Marriott
New Orleans and overflow  is across the street at the Sheraton. The exhibit
hall is across the street at the Sheraton and our  meetings will be at the
Marriott Convention Assistance is available for first timers thru our
national office which offers the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship. April 15th is
the deadline. Chappell  Dennis can also assist members financially if you
are not a first timer. This is offered thru the  State of Illinois. The
deadline is May 1st at 11:59 central time. All these forms are available
online. You can access this form at nfbofillinois.org. If you have any
questions you can email our  State President, Marilyn Green, at
president at nfbofillinois.org .

We have a merit based academic Scholarship program available for blind and
low vision students who  are pursuing post secondary education. The deadline
for this program is April 30th at 11:59 PM  central time. You can go to
http://www.nfbofillinois.org/scholarships.  You can submit everything
online.

ELECTIONS

Linda Hendle opened the floor up for nominations for the office of
President. Marilyn Green  nominated David Meyer and he accepted. Debbie
Pittman seconded. Any other nominations was asked  three times. Debbie
Pittman moved that nominations ceased and David be elected by acclamation.
All  in favor said "Aye"

David Meyer took over the floor and opened the office for Vice President.
Jermal moved that  Linda be Vice President and this was seconded. Linda
declined and nominated Leslie Hamric. Leslie  Hamric accepted and Debbie
Pittman seconded. Any other nominations was asked three times. Jermal  moved
that nominations be ceased and Leslie be elected by acclamation. All in
favor said "Aye"

David Meyer opened the office of Secretary/Treasurer. Bill Reif nominated
Michelle Ault. Michelle  accepted and Jemal seconded. Any other further
nominations was asked three times. Debbie Pittman  moved that nominations be
ceased and that Michelle be elected by acclamation. All in favor said
"Aye".

Board Position number one was up for nomination. Linda Hendle nominated
Debbie Pittman. Debbie  Pittman accepted. and this was seconded by Leslie
Hamric and many others. Any other nominations was  asked three times. Jamel
Powell moved that nominations be ceased and that Debbie Pittman be elected
for the first board seat. All in favor said "Aye"

Board Position number two was up for nomination. Debbie Pittman nominated
Linda Hendle and she  accepted. This was seconded by Bill Reif and Jemal
Powell. Any other nominations was asked three  times. Leslie Hamric moved
that nominations be ceased and that Linda Hendle be nominated for the
second board seat. All in favor said "Aye"

The new Board was welcomed in. David Meyer as President, Leslie Hamric as
Vice-President, Michelle  Ault as Secretary/Treasurer, Debbie Pittman in
Board seat one and Linda Hendle in Board seat two.

NEW BUSINESS

Marilyn Green moved that Addison Graham be voted in and welcomed into the At
Large Chapter.  Michelle Ault and others seconded. All in favor said "Aye"

The Chicago Chapter is having a game day on Saturday, May 3rd from 1:00PM to
5:00PM at Exchequer at  226 South Wabash, Chicago. We will be having Pizza,
Salad, coffee, tea, and soda. Alcoholic  Beverages are regular bar room
price. The cost is $40.00 if we sign up before April 27th. After  April 27th
it will be $45.00. We will be having a variety of games depending on the
kind of games  members bring. In the past we have had a variety of games
including Braille Scrabble, Braille  Sorry, and UNO. You can pay by check,
bring it to the meeting, and give it to Kira or whoever she  designates. You
can also pay via credit card thru PayPal or ZELLE. You will want to indicate
the  purpose of the contribution such as "Game Day." or if you decide to
give a general donation put  that in the memo line. You can ZELLE it to:
treasurer at nfbofillinois.org . We need to use the bank's online app.

Leslie Hamric was excited to share that she was featured in Rachel
Barton-Pine's Accessibility  Spotlight Social Media Series.

She also had a radio interview done by a Blind gentleman named Toby David.
She was interviewed on  the benefits of Braille music and Leslie teaches
Braille Music.

OLD BUSINESS

None

We ended the meeting by singing the PAC song: Get on the PAC plan, sign up
today, we need your  contributions right away. Funding the movement it must
be done so all our battles can be won!

ADJOURNEMENT

Bill Reif moved to adjourn and Debbie Pittman seconded. All in favored said
"Aye" The meeting was adjourned at 8:33PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Michelle Ault

Secretary