[sasi] Last day of ACB meetings

[Karyn Campbell]

Hello all,

This will be my final report from Washington as we visit Capitol Hill
tomorrow.  

We had a very busy day today and covered a lot of material.  We had sessions
this morning regarding H.R. 3101.  First mark Bayer from Rep. Markey's staff
spoke about the bill and its prospects.  Next Eric Bridges from ACB and
Jennifer Simpson from AAPD did  a role play to better help us understand how
to approach this from the point of view of both major political parties.
This was interesting as there was some access history brought up here.  The
phone had been around since the 1920s but either TTY or relay requirements
were not around until the 1990s.  That shows that disability access is
something that has never been done voluntarily.  Business has had to be
pushed on that one.
During the afternoon we discussed H.R. 734 and its companion in the senate
which deal with pedestrian safety.  We next had an update from National
Industries for the Blind and the Business Entrepreneurs Alliance.  The last
subject of the day was health care and the fact that there is nothing new
here.  Issues for the blind are not even on the radar with this one except
for a glimmer of hope in the area of devices.

That pretty much finished the day.  There was a luncheon speaker, Cathy
Martinez, Assistant Secretary of Labor in the Office of Disability
Employment Policy.  She just spoke about what was going on in that area.

We did hear from Lynnee Rutledge, Rehabilitation Services Administration
(RSA) commissioner this morning.  My first impression is that we have an
opportunity for dialogue with her.  This is the first time in a long time
that I or anyone else in the blind community can say that, especially
someone from ACB.

Well, tomorrow is a busy day as we will be on Capitol Hill.

Hope you've enjoyed these reports.

Karyn Campbell, karyn1421 at wowway.com
Check out my blog at packerbackerkaryn.blogspot.com
Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/packerbackerkar