There are 7 to 10 million blind and visually impaired persons in the United States, and with the aging of the baby-boomer generation, that number is expected to increase by another 4 million by 2015. The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is one of the leading national organizations of people who are blind and visually impaired and is dedicated to improving the quality of life, equality of opportunity and independence of all people who have visual impairments. Four issues are at the forefront of our legislative agenda in 2006. They include: disaster preparedness, video description restoration, pedestrian safety, and increasing employment opportunities through enhancements to the Randolph-Sheppard and Javits-Wagner-O’Day Acts.
Issue: As reported by the National Organization on Disability, 58% of people with disabilities do not know who to contact about emergency plans for their community in the event of a disaster. The impact of this statement was realized with the advent of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita where the disability community was hit particularly hard. It is critical that the needs of individuals with disabilities in emergency planning requirements and relief efforts are adequately addressed.
Proposed Action: ACB urges Congress to support tangible requirements to accommodate individuals with disabilities before, during and after an emergency event. This should include not only in the emergency planning process, but also issues such as accessible emergency information, evacuation transportation, and temporary housing that has features that are accessible for individuals with disabilities, including those with visual impairments. ACB urges Congress to support S.2124, the Emergency Preparedness and Response for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2005.
Issue: With increasing frequency, television programming relies on visual information to communicate with consumers. Significant events are portrayed visually: emergency weather advisories are scrolled across TV screens, and telephone numbers are displayed on the TV screen unaccompanied by verbalization. People who are blind, or have visual impairments, are thereby denied access to a significant portion of the programming carried on the nation’s airwaves today.
Proposed Action: ACB supports legislation to restore the Video Description mandate ensuring that video described programming will continue to be available to people who are blind. This programming will include both descriptive information during regular programming, and verbalization of critical emergency information which is commonly displayed visually for other viewers. We urge Congress to support the restoration of video description in S.900 and H.R.951.
Issue: An average of 5,000 pedestrians are killed each year on our nation’s streets and another 70,000 more are injured. People who are blind and visually impaired face an increased risk of serious personal injury and death in encountering ever more intricate and complex streets and intersections. ACB strongly supports legislation and public policy initiatives that will make the pedestrian environment safer for people who are blind and visually impaired.
Proposed Action: ACB urges the passage of Congressional resolutions H.CON.RES. 235 and S.CON.RES 71. These resolutions will encourage states to require that driver’s license candidates demonstrate, as a condition for obtaining a driver’s license, an ability to exercise increased caution when driving in the proximity of an individual who uses a white cane or guide dog.
Issue: Created in 1936, the Randolph-Sheppard Act fosters and encourages entrepreneurship and business opportunities for Americans who are blind and visually impaired. The Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act, (JWOD) which was originally enacted in 1938, also provides employment opportunities for blind and “severely disabled” persons. However, unlike the Randolph-Sheppard Act, the jobs provided by the JWOD program are classified as “direct labor” rather than management or supervisory positions. Concern has been expressed that these programs provide opportunities for too few people, and that the programs do not provide enough incentive for individuals to advance into employment or management of businesses outside of the programs.
Proposed Action: ACB is encouraging Congress to adopt legislation which will address these and other concerns that have been expressed by both members of Congress and the blind community. Specifically, we are urging Congress to pass legislation which will:
1. Create a new Blind Business and Employment Agency within the Department of Commerce to administer the Randolph-Sheppard Act;
2. Expand opportunities for experienced blind vendors and blind entrepreneurs by creating Qualified Blind Business Enterprises (QBBEs) and Qualified Blind Employment Enterprises (QBEEs) that would be eligible for a competitive procurement priority in the awarding of federal contracts;
3. Provide these enterprises access to low interest loans, and loan guarantees, as well as training and technical assistance, to encourage the creation and success of new businesses;
4. Establish management and workforce participation criteria which must be met by any individual or corporation seeking to be certified as a QBBE or a QBEE, including the following: requirements for ownership and management by people who are blind; at least one third of the enterprise’s workforce (including management employees) must be people who are blind and their pay must be proportionate to the percentage of the workforce they represent;
All employees must be paid at least the federal minimum wage; and the enterprise must acknowledge the collective bargaining rights of its employees.
For further information contact:
Day Al-Mohamed, Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
Email:
DAlMohamed@acb.org
· Telephone: 202-467-5081 · www.acb.org
Day Al-Mohamed
Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
American Council of the Blind
1155 15th St. NW
Washington DC 20005
Tel. 202-467-5081
dalmohamed@acb.org