[Nfb-seniors] NFB Legislative Agenda, 2008

[David Andrews]

Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans:
Priorities for the 110th Congress, SECOND Session


           The National Federation of the Blind 
(NFB) is the voice of the nation's blind.  We 
present the collective views of blind people 
throughout society.  All of our leaders and the 
vast majority of our members are blind, but 
anyone can participate in our movement.  Every 
year approximately 75,000 Americans become blind, 
and there are an estimated 1.3 million blind 
people in the United States.  The social and 
economic consequences of blindness affect not 
only blind people, but also our families, our friends, and our coworkers.

           Three legislative initiatives demand 
the immediate attention of the 110th Congress in 
its second session.  These urgent action items include:

1.  We urge Congress to ensure the safety of the 
blind and other pedestrians by passing 
legislation requiring the U.S. Department of 
Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, to adopt regulations establishing 
a minimum sound level standard for all new 
automobiles sold in the United States.  The 
regulations need not prescribe the method 
automobile manufacturers must use to achieve the 
minimum sound standard, but the standard should 
have the following characteristics:
·       In all phases of operation, including 
times when the vehicle is at a full stop, 
vehicles should be required to emit an 
omni-directional sound with similar spectral 
characteristics to those of a modern internal combustion engine.
·       The sound should vary in a way that is 
consistent with the sound of vehicles with 
combustion engines to indicate whether the 
vehicle is idling, maintaining a constant speed, 
accelerating, or decelerating.

2.  We urge Congress to fully fund the program of 
the National Library Service for the Blind and 
Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress 
to convert the analog cassette collection of 
Talking Books to a digital format and to procure 
of the equipment to play the digital Talking 
Books.  Failure to provide this funding will 
result in the disruption of library service to 
all blind Americans, creating a devastating set 
of circumstances preventing the blind from equal opportunity for literacy.
Congress should fully fund the digital Talking 
Book project by allocating $19.1 million for this 
purpose in fiscal year 2009, as well as restoring 
the $6.6 million left out of the fiscal year 2008 
request.  This appropriation of $25.7 million 
will allow the NLS to remain on course for a 
successful conversion to ensure that blind users 
of the Talking Book program do not find 
themselves without access to books and magazines.

3.  We urge Congress to amend Title II of the 
Social Security Act to mandate a schedule of 
increases in the level of earnings allowed for 
blind individuals before applying a work penalty, as follows:
·       For 2008 $21,600
·       For 2009 $26,400
·       For 2010 $30,000
·       For 2011 $34,200
·       For 2012 the amount applicable to 
individuals who attain Full Retirement Age in that year.


           For more information about these 
priorities, please consult the attached fact sheets.

           Other priorities that offer 
opportunities for legislative action in the 
second session of Congress include:
·       As a part of legislation reauthorizing 
federal higher education programs, adopting 
language establishing the Advisory Commission on 
Accessible Instructional Materials in 
Postsecondary Education for Students with 
Disabilities and providing for the support of 
model demonstration programs to encourage the 
development of systems to improve the timely 
delivery and quality of postsecondary 
instructional materials in specialized formats to 
students with print disabilities contained in 
Sections 766A and 766B of H.R. 4137.
·       Assuring that blindness cannot be a 
factor to justify payment of less than minimum 
wage under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
·       Reauthorizing the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973, as amended, as part of the Workforce 
Investment Act to increase consumer empowerment and enhance informed choice.
·       Preserving and enhancing opportunities 
available under the Randolph-Sheppard Act for 
blind men and women to operate vending businesses on federal property.
·       Ensuring that legislation amending the 
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) affirms the right of 
blind Americans to vote privately and 
independently, by requiring that any new 
verification mechanisms necessary because of such 
legislation must be accessible to the blind.

           For more information on any of these 
priorities, please contact James McCarthy or 
Jesse Hartle of the National Federation of the 
Blind, or visit us online at www.nfb.org.

           Blind Americans need your help to 
achieve our goals of economic security, increased 
opportunity, and full integration into American 
society on a basis of equality.  Enactment of 
these legislative proposals will represent 
important steps toward reaching these goals.  We 
need the help and support of each member of 
Congress.  Our success benefits not only us, but 
the whole of America as well.

ENHANCING PEDESTRIAN SAFETY:  ENSURING THE BLIND 
CAN CONTINUE TO TRAVEL SAFELY AND INDEPENDENTLY


Purpose:  To require gasoline-electric hybrid 
vehicles and other vehicles using silent power 
sources to emit a minimum level of sound which 
can alert blind people and other pedestrians to their presence.

Background:  Until recently independent travel 
for the blind has been a relatively simple 
matter, once a blind person has been trained in 
travel techniques and has learned to use a white 
cane or to travel with a guide dog.  Blind people 
listen to the sounds of automobile engines to 
determine the direction, speed, and pattern of 
traffic.  Sounds from traffic tell blind 
pedestrians how many vehicles are near them and 
how fast they are moving; whether the vehicles 
are accelerating or decelerating; and whether the 
vehicles are traveling toward, away from, or 
parallel to them.  With all of this information, 
blind people can accurately determine when it is 
safe to proceed into an intersection or across a 
driveway or parking lot.  The information 
obtained from listening to traffic sounds allows 
blind people to travel with complete confidence 
and without assistance.  Over the past few years, 
however, vehicles that are completely silent in 
certain modes of operation have come on the 
market, and more such vehicles are expected to be 
produced in the near future.  These vehicles are 
designed to produce lower emissions in order to 
protect the environment from harmful pollutants, 
but the vehicles do not need to be silent in 
order to achieve the intended positive 
environmental effects.  Currently the most 
popular of these vehicles are gasoline-electric 
hybrids (which alternate between running on a 
gasoline engine and on battery power), although a 
few electric automobiles are already on America’s 
roads and new all-electric models are 
planned.  The blind of America do not oppose the 
proliferation of vehicles intended to reduce 
damage to the environment, but these vehicles 
must meet a minimum sound standard for safety.

Need for Congressional Action:  The silence of 
gasoline-electric hybrid cars poses an immediate 
and growing threat to the safety of blind and 
other pedestrians and jeopardizes the ability of 
blind people to travel independently.  In order 
to address this threat, these vehicles must emit 
a sound detectable by the human ear.  Not only 
will such a sound allow the blind to continue to 
travel in safety, but it will also protect 
cyclists, runners, other pedestrians, and small 
children, all of whom rely on the sounds of traffic to varying degrees.

           The National Federation of the Blind 
has been concerned about the proliferation of 
silent vehicles for several years.  Thus far, 
however, our concerns have not been 
heeded.  Automobile manufacturers view the 
silence of their vehicles as a marketing 
advantage, and federal regulators have indicated 
that, in the absence of statistics on injuries or 
deaths caused by hybrid vehicles, nothing can be 
done.  No one disputes that pedestrians cannot 
hear these vehicles (even their manufacturers 
concede this fact), and we believe it is 
preferable that the problem be addressed before 
the inevitable avalanche of tragedies involving 
blind people, cyclists, and children shocks the nation.
Proposed Legislation:  Legislation requiring the 
U.S. Department of Transportation, National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to 
establish and promulgate a national standard for 
a minimum sound to be emitted by all new 
automobiles sold in the United States, based on 
appropriate scientific research and consultation 
with blind Americans and other affected groups, 
is urgently needed.  This national minimum sound 
standard should have the following characteristics:

·       In all phases of operation, including 
times when the vehicle is at a full stop, 
vehicles should be required to emit an 
omni-directional sound with similar spectral 
characteristics to those of a modern internal combustion engine.

·       The sound should vary in a way that is 
consistent with the sound of vehicles with 
combustion engines to indicate whether the 
vehicle is idling, maintaining a constant speed, 
accelerating, or decelerating.

           The standard need not prescribe the 
apparatus, technology, or method to be used by 
vehicle manufacturers to achieve the required 
minimum sound level.  This approach will 
encourage manufacturers to use innovative and 
cost-effective techniques to achieve the minimum sound standard.

           The addition of components that will 
emit a minimum sound discernible to blind people 
and other pedestrians will not adversely affect 
the environmental benefits of gasoline-electric 
hybrids and other automobiles running on 
alternate power sources, nor need the sound be 
loud enough to contribute to noise 
pollution.  Automobiles that operate in complete 
silence, however, endanger the safety of 
everyone; silent operation should be seen as a 
design flaw similar to the lack of seat belts or air bags.

Requested Action:  Please support blind Americans 
by sponsoring or cosponsoring legislation 
authorizing the U.S. Department of Transportation 
to establish and promulgate regulations 
specifying a minimum sound standard for all new 
automobiles sold in the United States.










Contact Information:
James McCarthy
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Phone:  (410) 659-9314, extension 2240
Email:  jmccarthy at nfb.org


PRESERVING TALKING BOOKS
FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED


Purpose:  To prevent devastating disruption in 
the distribution of books and magazines by the 
Talking Book program of the Library of Congress.

Background:  In 1931 Congress passed the 
Pratt-Smoot Act, which authorized the 
distribution of books to blind and physically 
handicapped people in the United States through 
what is now known as the National Library Service 
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the 
Library of Congress (NLS).  Talking Books began 
to be produced in 1934 and were originally 
recorded on phonograph records; cassette books 
were produced beginning in 1971.  Today recorded 
books and the equipment to play them are 
distributed through a network of cooperating 
libraries throughout the country.  Books on all 
subjects and representing all literary genres, as 
well as a selection of popular magazines, are 
available to NLS patrons.  From its inception the 
Talking Books program has used the most 
cost-effective technology that is accessible by 
its users and protects the rights of copyright 
holders.  The program is universally praised for 
the quality of the Talking Books and for its 
efficient distribution to patrons across the 
country.  The Talking Book service is the single 
most effective and popular program serving blind 
Americans, for whom it is often the only source of reading material.

           Currently the service uses analog 
cassette tapes recorded at half speed to prevent 
copyright infringement, but cassette technology 
is now obsolete.  Realizing that the days of the 
cassette tape were numbered, NLS developed a plan 
to transition from analog to digital 
technology.  A digital Talking Book player was 
designed that can be used by patrons of all ages, 
abilities, and physical limitations, and digital 
flash cartridges have been developed to store the 
books.  Just as NLS is about to put the digital 
transition plan into effect, however, Congress 
has withdrawn critically needed funds from the 
project, placing the Talking Book program in 
peril.  Without the restoration of full funding 
to the program, NLS will not be able to deliver 
digital Talking Books and players to its patrons 
in accordance with the schedule originally 
planned.  The last analog cassette machine to 
play the specially formatted tapes was 
manufactured over a year ago, leaving NLS with 
only a very limited supply of new and refurbished 
players to serve its patrons who are still using 
the cassettes.  Parts for these players are no 
longer available, and the machines are maintained 
primarily by volunteers.  As these cassette 
machines reach the end of their useful life, and 
with the distribution of digital books and 
equipment slowed by the lack of funding, many NLS 
patrons will see their library service come to an abrupt halt.

Need for Congressional Action:  The National 
Library Service for the Blind and Physically 
Handicapped determined that it would take 
$76,400,000 to complete the conversion from 
analog cassettes to a digital format.  Their goal 
was to obtain this funding over four fiscal 
years, $19.1 million per year, in order to ensure 
that the conversion project was completed before 
analog cassettes became completely obsolete and 
unavailable.  In its fiscal year 2008 budget 
request, the Library of Congress asked for the 
first of these $19.1 million installments to 
begin the digital conversion.  Because of budget 
concerns, the Legislative Branch subcommittees in 
both the House and the Senate did not provide the 
needed funds to keep this project on the 
four-year conversion schedule established by the 
NLS.  Both House and Senate included only $12.5 
million for this project, leaving $6.6 million unfunded.

           Congress should fully fund the digital 
Talking Book project by allocating $19.1 million 
for this purpose in fiscal year 2009, as well as 
restoring the $6.6 million left out of the fiscal 
year 2008 request.  This appropriation of $25.7 
million will allow the NLS to remain on course 
for a successful conversion to ensure that blind 
users of the Talking Book program do not find 
themselves without access to books and magazines.

Requested Action:  Please support blind Americans 
by voting for an appropriation of $25.7 million 
in fiscal year 2009 for the Library of Congress Talking Book program.





























Contact Information:

Jesse Hartle
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2233
Email: jhartle at nfb.org


INCREASING THE EARNINGS LIMIT: A COMMON SENSE 
WORK INCENTIVE FOR BLIND SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES


Legislation:  H.R. 3834, the Blind Persons 
Earnings Fairness Act of 2007 introduced by Congressman John Lewis.

Purpose:  To amend Title II of the Social 
Security Act by mandating five annual increases 
in the level of earnings allowed for blind 
individuals before applying a work penalty.

Background:  By increasing the Social Security 
earnings limit in 1996, Congress gave seniors a 
powerful incentive to work.  Advocates stressed 
that seniors would continue to work, earn, and 
pay taxes because they could do so with no fear 
of losing income from Social Security.

           The need for a higher earnings limit 
for the blind is much more compelling because of 
an all-or-nothing penalty for exceeding the 
limit.  Nevertheless, the earnings limit for 
blind individuals has not been increased beyond 
the annual rate of wage growth, though 
historically this limit was tied to the 
applicable limit for seniors.  In 2008 the 
earnings limit applicable to seniors in the year 
they reach Full Retirement Age (FRA) is 
$36,120.  This limit is adjusted annually.  For 
blind individuals gross earnings exceeding $1,570 
monthly ($18,840 annually) cause complete loss of 
benefits until attainment of FRA.

Existing Law:  Like "retirement age," "blindness" 
is specifically defined in the Social Security 
Act and can be readily determined.  By contrast, 
evaluating "disability" is far more 
subjective.  Although blindness is specifically 
defined, not all blind people receive monthly 
benefits.  Only those not working or whose work 
earnings are below an annually adjusted statutory 
earnings limit are eligible.  Personal wealth 
derived from all sources other than work is 
subject to no penalty at all.  However, income in 
excess of the earnings limit generated from work 
results in a complete loss of cash benefits for 
blind beneficiaries.  Recognizing the negative 
impact of the earnings limit on seniors, Congress 
changed the law in 1996 and later entirely 
eliminated their earnings limit.  The situation 
confronting blind people today is identical to 
that seniors faced before 1996.

Examples:  For the blind who find employment, 
earnings almost never replace lost benefits once 
taxes and work expenses are paid.  Therefore few 
beneficiaries can truly afford to attempt 
significant work, and those who do often 
sacrifice income and the security of a monthly 
check.  The following examples illustrate the penalty for working.
·       A single blind person with no dependents 
having annual cash benefits of approximately 
$12,000 or $1,000 per month (an average benefit), 
with no other income, receives this amount 
tax-free.  Gross pay to replace benefits must be 
approximately $20,500, taking into account taxes 
and work expenses (including transportation and 
purchase of work-appropriate clothing).  This is 
$1,660 above the amount blind people are 
allowed.  Annual earnings less than $20,500 
clearly result in a net loss of income.  While 
some blind people nevertheless choose to work, 
many do not because they cannot afford the lost income.
·       For a blind beneficiary with dependents, 
the situation is more desperate.  With two 
dependents the family's total benefit averages 
$17,870 tax-free annually, and earnings greater 
than $18,840 (the annual earnings limit for blind 
recipients) will terminate benefits.  Using 
conservative assumptions, including combined 
state and federal taxes of twenty-five percent of 
gross pay and childcare for two children at $500 
per month, replacing $17,870 in benefits would 
require over $32,000 in gross pay.  When 
dependents are involved, the choice whether or 
not to work is profoundly restricted, and the 
amount necessary to replace combined family 
benefits vastly exceeds the blind person's earnings limit.

Need for Legislation:  Steadily increasing the 
earnings limit for blind people over five years, 
thereby linking it to the limit applicable in the 
year of FRA, will allow blind people to work 
without facing an overwhelming financial penalty 
for their effort.  This would provide more than 
100,000 blind beneficiaries with an effective 
work incentive.  In 2008 a blind individual’s 
earnings cannot exceed a rigid monthly limit of 
$1,570.  Earnings over this threshold lead to 
immediate withdrawal of the total sum paid to a 
primary beneficiary and all dependents following 
completion of a trial work period.  The economic 
risk occurring to a blind head of household 
negates any possible economic benefit.

           An increase in the earnings limit 
would be cost-beneficial.  With an estimated 74 
percent unemployment rate, an overwhelming 
majority of working-age blind people are already 
beneficiaries.  With this meaningful work 
incentive proposal, many would also become 
taxpayers.  The chance to work, earn, and pay 
taxes is a constructive and valid goal for senior 
citizens and blind Americans alike.

Requested Action:  Congress should enact annual 
increases in the statutory earnings limit for 
blind individuals over five years, ultimately 
linking it to that applicable to individuals in 
the year they attain full retirement age as follows:

    * For 2008 $21,600
    * For 2009 $26,400
    * For 2010 $30,000
    * For 2011 $34,200
    * For 2012 the amount applicable to 
individuals who attain Full Retirement Age in that year.

           Please support blind Americans by 
cosponsoring the Blind Persons Earnings Fairness Act of 2007, H.R. 3834.

           Senators, please support companion legislation when introduced.


Contact Information:
James McCarthy
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Phone:  (410) 659-9314, extension 2240
Email:  jmccarthy at nfb.org

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