Legislative Agenda, 1997

Legislative Agenda, 1997

The Braille Monitor

April 1997

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Legislative Agenda,

1997

FROM: Members of the National Federation

of the Blind

TO: Members of the 105th Congress

RE: Legislative Priorities of Blind Americans

Public policies and laws affecting blind people have a profound impact on our

entire society. Most people know someone who is blind. It may be a friend, a

family member, or a co-worker on the job. The blind population in the U. S.

is estimated to exceed 700,000. Fifty thousand Americans become blind each year.

By themselves these numbers may not seem large, but the social and economic

consequences of blindness directly touch the lives of millions. In the form

of its social consequences and to some extent its economic consequences, blindness

affects virtually everyone.

Public policies and laws that result from misconceptions about blindness or

lack of information are often more limiting than the loss of eyesight itself.

This is why we have formed the National Federation of the Blind. The Federation's

leaders and the vast majority of the members are blind, but membership is open

to anyone who wants to join in the effort we are making to win understanding

and equality in society.

Our priorities for the first session of the 105th Congress reflect an urgent

need for action in three specific areas of vital importance to the blind this

year.

(1) Congress should restore work incentive

equity for blind individuals by re-enacting the identical earnings exemption

threshold for blind and senior citizen beneficiaries under Title II of the Social

Security Act. This proposal seeks to reduce (or eliminate altogether) the work

disincentive of the Social Security earnings limit as it now affects blind beneficiaries.

In spite of a law passed in 1977 creating a logical and identical earnings exemption

threshold for blind people and retirees, beneficiaries who are blind were singled

out for exclusion from a series of seven specified annual increases in the exempt

amount mandated under a new law solely for seniors. This means that a lower

earnings limit for the blind--$12,000 as compared to $13,500--is now in effect.

By 2002, when the exemption for seniors becomes $30,000, the lower limit created

by Congress

for the blind in 1996 will be less than half the amount allowed for seniors

unless the law is changed.

People of working age who are blind must not be forgotten now that the earnings

exemption for retirees has been raised. Just as with hundreds of thousands of

seniors, their positive response to the higher amounts of earnings allowed will

bring additional revenues into the Social Security trust funds. The chance to

work, earn, and pay taxes is a constructive and valid goal for senior citizens

and blind Americans alike. This is why the statutory linkage of the exempt earnings

amounts which existed under the law for almost twenty years should be restored.

For more details and an explanation of the need for this legislation, see the

fact sheet entitled "WINNING THE CHANCE TO EARN AND PAY TAXES: HOW THE

BLIND PERSON'S EARNINGS LIMIT IN THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT MUST BE CHANGED."

(2) Congress should amend the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to include provisions for strengthening

programs of Braille literacy instruction. This can be done by enacting Braille

literacy for blind persons provisions as part of the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act (IDEA). Goal Five of the National Education Goals declares that

by the year 2000, "Every adult American will be literate. . . ." For

blind people this means having the ability to read and write in Braille at a

level of proficiency which makes performance on equal terms possible. Without

legislative change, today's blind children will not be able to meet this national

goal.

As many as 34 percent of the blind students enrolled in elementary and secondary

schools in the U.S. during the last school year were classified as "non-readers."

Fewer than 10 percent read Braille. Current federal and state laws require that

an appropriate educational opportunity must be provided

to children with disabilities. Each such child is to have an individually planned

program of instruction to meet identified needs, but growing illiteracy for

blind children has been the result. Remedial federal legislation, similar to

laws now enacted in twenty-eight states, can help to reverse this trend. For

more details and an explanation of the need for this legislation, see the fact

sheet entitled

"BRAILLE LITERACY AND THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT."

(3) Congress should enact legislation

this year to reauthorize the existing federal/state program of vocational rehabilitation.

This program, as currently authorized under Title I of the Rehabilitation Act

of 1973, is now in its final year before action must be taken to continue grants

to states for serving persons with disabilities, including people who are blind.

During the 104th Congress vocational rehabilitation was among the programs first

included but later removed from a proposed job training, education, and employment

system consolidation bill. Nonetheless, with the program's reauthorization due

for consideration this year, the possibility of consolidation with other programs

has been discussed and could be proposed again.

Vocational rehabilitation has been recognized as a specific responsibility to

be shared by the federal government and the states for seventy-seven years.

The mixture of this program (intended to address essential and complex disability-related

needs) with generic job training, education, and employment programs for the

general population is a fundamentally flawed concept. For someone who becomes

blind in mid-career, unemployment is only one of many consequences. By comparison,

however, the need for special help to deal with blindness is by far the most

profound initial problem. This is why vocational rehabilitation services should

continue to receive dedicated federal funding to support a targeted and identifiable

service delivery system. For more details and an explanation of the need for

reauthorization see the fact sheet entitled "Blindness, Rehabilitation,

and the Need for Specialized Programs."

People who are blind are asking for

your help in securing positive action by Congress in the areas outlined here.

Legislative proposals will be offered to achieve each of our specific objectives.

Many priorities confront this session of Congress, and the needs of the nation's

blind are among them. By acting on these priorities in partnership with the

National Federation of the Blind, each member of Congress can help build better

lives for the blind both today and in the years ahead.