Washington Connection

Welcome to the Washington Connection, the legislative and information service of the American Council of the Blind.  The Washington Connection is brought to you by the ACB Department of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs.  If you have any questions or comments on the information provided, don't hesitate to contact us and ask to speak with Eric Bridges.  Washington Connection is updated every two weeks or any time we have new information to share with you.

What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?
How to File a Video Description Complaint
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Introduces Legislation to Expand Captioning and Improve Access to Movies
ACB’s Comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
Walmart Now Offers ScripTalk Talking Prescription Containers
White House Announces Audio Descriptions for Public Tours
TellMe is Back!

What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?

This article on sequestration was adapted from an article by the National Council on Disability.
 
The sequester would place tens of thousands of Americans with disabilities at greater risk for hunger and homelessness, endanger the education of millions of children with disabilities and delay employment services and disability benefits for scores of people with disabilities – including disabled veterans -- who are, on average, already at greater risk of poverty.
 
A series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal government spending totaling $1.2 trillion over the course of 10 years took effect Friday, March 1., these cuts will be split between defense and domestic spending. 
 
When Congress failed to agree on a budget to reduce the federal deficit by March 1, 2013, $85 billion in spending cuts, dubbed “sequestration” – split evenly between domestic and defense discretionary programs – went into effect.
 
For Americans with disabilities, this means everything from special education to transportation, to housing and health care programs will “feel the pinch” due to the precarious collision of across-the-board cuts and unforeseen circumstances. 
 
Spending reductions break down into three broad categories:

  1. Defense spending. Amounts to half the sequester cuts.
  2. Non-defense. Includes housing, education, and employment programs.
  3. Medicare. Limited to a 2% cut in payments to Medicare providers, specifically hospitals and doctors.

TANF, Food Stamps, and Social Security
 
Programs whose benefits and payments will not be affected by budget cuts but who will have less staff and other resources.

  • Assistance to individuals with low-incomes and their families like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, or welfare), the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), unemployment benefits and provider payments made through Medicare will not be cut, although staff time and resources are likely to be compromised. 
  • Social Security Disability benefits will also remain intact, but across-the-board budget cuts would force the SSA to “curtail service to the public,” according to the White House. Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue wrote on Feb. 7 that administrative cuts could slow disability claims, "If we do not have enough staff to keep up or if furloughs prevent them from working, the public can expect to wait longer in our offices, on the phone, and for disability decisions at all levels."
  • Pending levels of initial disability claims are likely to rise by over 140,000 claims, and it is estimated that applicants will have to wait about two weeks longer for decision on disability claims and nearly a month longer for disability hearing decisions.

Medicare

  • While other non-defense programs are facing a 8.4 percent cut, Medicare cuts are limited to 2 percent per fiscal year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that in 2013 a 2

Housing

  • $1.9 billion in cuts to housing assistance for an estimated 125,000 Americans, including assistance for elderly and people with disabilities, as part of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program would be lost – increasing the possibility of homelessness, according to testimony to the Senate by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan on February 14.
  • Rural rental assistance for 10,000 very low-income rural people, mostly single women, seniors, or people with disabilities would be eliminated as a result of cuts to the Department of Agriculture.

Education

  • $978 million in comprehensive funding cuts would affect 30.7 million special education students.
  • Funding for special education, specifically, would be slashed by nearly $600 million, reducing supports for students with disabilities to 2005 levels.
  • Federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will be reduced by 28 percent, totaling a loss of one billion dollars.
  • Close to 15,000 special education teachers could lose their jobs resulting in larger class sizes.
  • 70,000 children, many of them disabled, would be dropped from Head Start programs.
  • Funding for “up to 7,200″ special education support workers – such as personnel aides and money for assistance – would also be eliminated, according to the White House.

Employment

  • Vocational rehabilitation stands to lose $160 million leading to the reduction of services, increasing wait times for services and placing disabled job seekers in administrative limbo on waiting lists.

Veterans

  • Military Pay (including PCS and Subsistence) is exempt under the sequestration exemption. Programs such as TRICARE, tuition assistance and family support programs are not exempt and do fall under sequestration.
  • There are no direct cuts to Veterans Administration health care programs under sequestration, but individuals forced to turn to the VA to obtain care they normally receive under TRICARE could add increased burdens to the system.

How to File a Video Description Complaint

This is a step by step guide for filing complaints regarding the new video description requirements with the Federal Communications Commission, (FCC). Before filing a complaint you should make every attempt to work with your cable or satellite provider to resolve the situation to your satisfaction. You should keep records of your attempts to resolve the inability to receive descriptions and include that information in your complaint.
 
Prepare your complaint including the following information:

  • your contact information including telephone number, e-mail address and your preferred  method of response to your  complaint;
  • the name, address and telephone number (if known) of the company(s) involved in your complaint;
  • the television station call sign and network name (if applicable), or channel name (e.g., "WZUF, CBC," "WZUE-TV," "Sportingchannel West") and the channel number (e.g., "13");
  • the station or subscription TV provider system location: City, County, State;
  • the name and type of paid subscription service (e.g., Comcast; DIRECTV; Dish Network);
  • the name of program(s) involved, and;
  • a narrative for your complaint and include the resolution you are seeking.

What to Include in Your Narrative

Include enough information to demonstrate that the video programming distributor has violated or is violating the FCC’s video description rules, such as the name of the program or show; the date and time when it was shown; and a detailed description of the video description problem, including specifics about the frequency and type of problem (e.g., video description available during only part of the program or missing in its entirety – but remember that not all programming must be video described under the FCC’s rules).
 
Tell the FCC what specific relief or satisfaction is being requested.
 
Include any additional information that may assist in processing your complaint.
 
File your complaint by:

  • e-mailing your complaint to dro@fcc.gov;
  • mailing your complaint to Federal Communications Commission, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20554, or;
  • phoning the FCC at 888-225-5322.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Introduces Legislation to Expand Captioning and Improve Access to Movies

Senator Harkin, Senate sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today introduced two bills that will expand access to captioning and image narration in movie theaters and airplanes.
 
“More than two decades have passed since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and in that time we have seen a transformation of our physical landscape—from curb cuts to wheelchair ramps, buses with lifts to automatic doors—our communities are more accessible than ever for our neighbors with disabilities," Harkin said. "However, we still have more to do. These bills will allow Americans with visual or hearing impairments to enjoy going to the movies and watching in-flight entertainment, through captioning and video description, just as they can at home.”
 
S. 555, the Captioning and Image Narration to Enhance Movie Accessibility (CINEMA) Act, would amend Title III of the ADA to require movie theater complexes of two or more theaters to make captioning and video description available for all films at all showings. Video description is a process that allows an individual who is blind or visually impaired to have access to the key visual elements of the programming by contemporaneous audio narrated descriptions of the actions, settings, facial expressions, costumes, and scene changes during the natural pauses in the audio portion of the programming, usually through headphones.
 
S. 556, the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act, would amend the Air Carriers Access Act to require that air carriers make captioning and video description available for visually-displayed entertainment programming—live televised events, recorded programming, and motion pictures—that is available in-flight for passengers. In instances where the programming is only available through the use of an individual touchscreen or other contact-sensitive controls, the bill would authorize the U.S. Access Board to promulgate accessibility standards so that individuals with disabilities, including individuals who are blind or visually impaired, can operate the displays independently.

ACB’s Comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

www.acb.org/node/1219

Walmart Now Offers ScripTalk Talking Prescription Containers

Walmart now offers ScripTalk talking prescription containers with prescriptions filled for mail order customers across the country.  Call Walmart  toll free at  888-227-3403. Thirty-three in-store locations also offer ScripTalk talking containers. Call your local Walmart store to find out if they are one of the thirty-three in-store locations. You will need to contact Envision America to order the ScriptTalk reader. Envision America has a dedicated toll-free line for requests, and for general ScripTalk service & inquiries. The toll-free Envision America number is 855-773-2579.
 
Read more: http://lflegal.com/2013/03/walmart-info-2/

White House Announces Audio Descriptions for Public Tours

President Obama and the First Lady have long been committed to ensuring that the White House is truly the People’s House, and that Americans with disabilities are fully integrated into our society.  Today, continuing on that commitment, the White House Visitor’s Office is pleased to announce the availability of an audio description for those taking a White House tour. This will give blind and visually impaired Americans and persons with other print disabilities the opportunity to listen to an audio described tour as they visit the historic, public rooms of the White House.

The audio tour features welcoming remarks from Mrs. Obama followed by a room-by-room audio description of the highlights and features of the White House. This is just the latest step in the Obamas’ work to make the White House more open and accessible - from surprising visitors on public tours, to welcoming nearly 3 million visitors to the White House for Residence tours, the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Fall and Spring Garden Tours, State and Official Arrival Ceremonies and White House Kitchen Garden school group tours, to partnering with the Google Art Project so millions more can take a 360-degree tour of the White House from their computer.

The audio tours are only available on MP3 players that will be provided by the White House to those requesting the audio tour.  The players must be requested at the time the request for a tour is made through a Member of Congress, and will be available on a first come, first serve basis. Individuals must return the MP3 players at the conclusion of their tour. 

Information about White House Tours:

Public tours of the White House are currently available and requests must be submitted through your Member of Congress.  These self-guided tours are available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Fridays, and 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturdays (excluding federal holidays or unless otherwise noted). Tour hours will be extended when possible based on the official White House schedule. Tours are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Requests can be submitted up to six months in advance and no less than 21 days in advance. You are encouraged to submit your request as early as possible as a limited number of spaces are available. All White House tours are free of charge.  (Please note that White House tours may be subject to last minute cancelation.)

TellMe is Back!

Approximately a year ago, Tell Me, a telephone service that provided weather, sports information, movies, and stock quotes, among other topics, closed. ACB has had calls asking about the service. After conducting some research, we have found that [24]7 is now offering the service on a toll-free line at 888-247-2425.

This webpage last updated April 1, 2013.

Copyright © 2013 American Council of the Blind
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