[Nfbnet-members-list] November 15, 2017 Legislative Alert and Washington Seminar

Pare, John JPare at nfb.org
Thu Nov 16 02:34:33 UTC 2017


Dear Fellow Federationists:

Thank you for all of your calls and emails 
regarding the elimination of the increased standard deduction for blind people.
So, here is where we stand as of today 
(Wednesday, November 15). The House bill has gone 
to the House floor and will most likely be voted 
on and passed tomorrow, November 16. It 
eliminates the additional standard deduction for 
the blind. The Senate Committee on Finance is 
currently debating the Senate version of the 
bill. The Senate version does not modify the 
existing additional standard deduction for the 
blind. The next key step will be when the Senate 
bill goes to the floor of the Senate for a final 
vote. It is possible that Senator Boozman will be 
permitted to offer an amendment to include the 
Access Technology Affordability Act in the 
Senate’s version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 
This is what we have been hoping for since 
January. The number one thing we can do to help 
this effort is to add cosponsors to the Access 
Technology Affordability Act in the Senate (S. 
732). There are currently three cosponsors on the 
bill, Senators Cardin and Van Hollen from 
Maryland and Senator Coons from Delaware. 
Therefore, please call or email your two senators 
and urge them to cosponsor S. 732, the Access 
Technology Affordability Act of 2017. The best 
way to contact your senators is to call the 
Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for 
the office in question. If you email your 
senators, please copy me at <mailto:JPare at nfb.org>JPare at nfb.org.
In other news, we are expecting the Accessible 
Instructional Materials in Higher Education bill 
to be introduced in the Senate in the very near 
future. Also, I have received some questions 
regarding hotel reservations for Washington 
Seminar. The following information is published 
in the 
<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1710/bm171010.htm>November 
2017 issue of the Braille Monitor.
Washington Seminar will be held January 28 
through February 1, 2018, with the Great 
Gathering-In taking place on Monday, January 29. 
You can now reserve a room at the Holiday Inn 
Capitol (550 C Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024) 
for Washington Seminar for check-in beginning 
Friday, January 26, and check-out Friday, 
February 2. The rate is $192.00 per night; this 
rate does not include DC sales tax, which is 
currently 14.8 percent. You may begin booking 
reservations directly online by clicking on the 
weblink below: 
<http://ichotelsgroup.com/redirect?path=rates&brandCode=HI&regionCode=1&localeCode=en&GPC=FB8&hotelCode=WASSM&_PMID=99801505>http://ichotelsgroup.com/redirect?path=rates&brandCode=HI&regionCode=1&localeCode=en&GPC=FB8&hotelCode=WASSM&_PMID=99801505.
You may also make reservations by calling (877) 
572-6951 and referencing booking code FB8. Credit 
card information is needed at time of 
reservation. Individual cancellation policy 
requires notification seventy-two hours prior to 
date of arrival to avoid one night's room plus 
tax cancellation charge on the credit card 
provided. If your departure date changes, you 
must inform the hotel seventy-two hours in 
advance of departure to avoid a $100 fee; call 
(877) 572-6951 and reference your confirmation 
number. Please obtain a cancellation number when 
cancelling a reservation. The firm deadline date 
to make a reservation is Tuesday, January 2, 
2018. Reservation requests received after the 
deadline date will be subject to availability and prevailing rate.
Warm regards,

John

John G. Paré Jr.
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, extension 2218 | <mailto:jpare at nfb.org>jpare at nfb.org


<https://nfb.org/>
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The National Federation of the Blind is a 
community of members and friends who believe in 
the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every 
day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.




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