by Penny Reeder
Q: I’ve been hearing about the legislative seminar that is scheduled for March. But I’m really not sure what it is. Can you tell me what to expect?
A: ACB has been sponsoring a legislative seminar for our members for about six years now. The seminar is a two-day event, during which we inform our members about the most pressing legislative issues of the day and offer training in advocacy skills that participants can put to good use when they visit their senators and representatives at the conclusion of the seminar.
Q: Who contacts the senators and congresspersons? Is there a lot of logistical planning involved?
A: The people who are coming to the seminar contact their representatives and senators before they come. Each participant is expected to make his or her own appointments with legislators. ACB prepares members for their meetings by helping them to get up to speed on the most important legislative and advocacy issues, and by giving them pointers about the best ways to present our issues.
Q: So I guess this isn’t an event for timid souls, or for people who aren’t especially well-informed about blindness issues?
A: Not so. This is an event for anyone who thinks it’s important to speak up on behalf of blind people and the issues that are important to us. Congressmen and women, and senators, and their staff members thrive on interaction with the folks back home. These people aren’t interested in speaking to the polished and programmed inside-the-Beltway types they can hear from anytime they turn on their TV sets. Senators and Congresspersons and their legislative aides like to hear our stories in real-life terms they can relate to! And we need to explain to our representatives what matters to us, and why. We hold the seminar, every year, to help average citizens learn how to describe the issues that are important to us in articulate and well-informed ways. We will translate all the jargon, and help our members to frame the issues that they care about in terms we can all understand. On the first afternoon, we will distribute a position paper, which will describe, in some detail, each of the legislative issues we hope our members will be presenting to their representatives on the hill. Since the Capitol Hill visits aren’t scheduled until Monday morning (or even later in some cases), participants will have a lot of time to read the position paper and to study the issues in some detail.
Q: So what happens at this seminar?
A: Our affiliates all send representatives. When the representatives arrive, they will come, from the various airports in the area, to the Doubletree Park Terrace Hotel, which is located at 1515 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The seminar will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 18. We will spend that first afternoon talking about advocacy, and practicing the skills of advocacy. We hope to have some hands-on training going on. And we’re determined to make this event feel relevant and practical! Participants will learn the skills which will make their meetings with senators and congresspersons effective. And our members will be able to take these same skills back home with them, to teach others in their ACB affiliates, and to use in solving local problems and working with others in their communities to make their lives better.
Q: It sounds like Saturday will be a pretty intense day. Are there events planned for Saturday night?
A: There are no formal meetings planned. But, you know the kind of people we are in ACB. We all enjoy getting together, getting reacquainted with old friends and meeting new people. We are working with Chelsea’s, which is the club in Georgetown where the Capitol Steps perform, to see if they can offer seminar participants a package that includes dinner and the Capitol Steps’ show. We’re still ironing out the details, but as of right now, it looks like the package won’t cost individuals more than $60. It should be a great evening — good food and great entertainment, shared with old friends and new. Of course, attendance at the Capitol Steps’ show is purely up to each individual member. D.C. is a city where no one has much trouble finding ways to while away the time.
Q: What happens on Sunday?
A: Sunday is the day when we get down to the “nitty gritty,” and help our members sort out the details of the issues we’re focusing on. ACB President Paul Edwards and Executive Director Charlie Crawford will each make presentations, as will members of the ACB Advocacy Committee, and staff members from the national office. We are making final arrangements for other speakers as well, but since we’re still finalizing these plans, I am reluctant to name specific names or make promises. By the end of the day, all of the seminar participants will have a firm grasp of essential issues. We will all understand what’s important, what we want, what to say, and how to say it! We will wrap up Sunday with the annual banquet, where good food and camaraderie will help us to relax, and where our speakers will rev us all up for the meetings which are scheduled to take place on the Hill on Monday.
Q: Logistically, how do the planned events of Monday actually take place?
A: We will provide bus transportation from the hotel to Capitol Hill. Once we’re all there, we will gather in a “muster room” staffed by members of the ACB national office staff, as well as volunteers, who will act as sighted guides and way-finders. Then, we will all go to meet with our individual representatives, according to the appointments we have arranged in advance. All of us will go forth — armed with the knowledge we’ve learned on Saturday and Sunday, as well as printed fact sheets to distribute to our braille-impaired representatives and their staffs. At the conclusion of the morning, we will come back together to compare notes, fill out fact sheets which can provide detailed information about our meetings, so that ACB can follow up where appropriate, and to share a boxed lunch, and make plans to see one another again at the convention in Louisville.
Q: Do you know yet what issues this year’s legislative seminar will be focusing on?
A: We have some ideas, but we won’t start writing the actual position papers and compiling the fact sheets until we’re closer to the event. Some of our issues are carry-over issues from last fall, since this is the second year of the Congressional session. Bills that were introduced last year still have a chance to be brought to the floor, or resurrected by advocates like ourselves in meaningful ways. One such bill is the one which was introduced last year by Rep. Capuano. The legislation would authorize Medicare funding to cover rehabilitation teaching and orientation and mobility training for older adults who become visually impaired. Access to information is always a hot issue — and a significant problem — for our members. So are pedestrian safety, access to transportation, and the issue of Social Security linkage. There’s always more than enough to talk about and learn about. In some ways, prioritizing issues is the hardest part of planning the seminar.
Q: How much does it cost to participate? And who pays for what?
A: Each affiliate can send two representatives, whose hotel accommodations will be paid for by ACB. Everyone who comes should register. The registration fee of $50 will entitle each registrant to continental breakfasts on Sunday and Monday, to lunch on Monday, and to the Sunday-evening banquet. Participants are responsible for their own air fare, and for ground transportation to and from airports. Of course, we encourage anyone who is able to come to participate in the seminar and help ACB to be seen as a strong and united presence on the Hill. Our financial situation, however, permits us to cover hotel expenses for only two members of any given affiliate.
Now That I Know What to Expect ...
This mid-winter event sounds like a great way for members of ACB to become educated about important matters and to learn legislative and advocacy skills that can make a real difference —in what happens on Capitol Hill during the coming months and the give-and-take of this election year, and in our states and local communities, where the events which impact our daily lives are often debated and decided. As a member of the National Capital Area Chapter of the ACB of Maryland, I plan to attend all the seminar events, and to schedule meetings with my congressperson, Rep. Connie Morella, and with Maryland’s Sen. Paul Sarbanes and Sen. Barbara Mikulski. As editor of “The Braille Forum,” I plan to cover the events to inform those of you who won’t be able to attend. And as a new member of the national office, I look forward to meeting all of you, my fellow advocates-in-training, and members of the informed, committed and involved American Council of the Blind.