The President’s Corner
By Jim Jirak, President
“Friends and Colleagues,
The purpose of this email
is to provide a "Fact Sheet" relative to a bill currently in the
Nebraska State Legislature, which would impact services for blind Nebraskans in
a dramatic and negative way. Please
feel free to contact me with questions, or comments. You are welcome to share this information with any interested
persons. Thank you!
Pearl Van Zandt, PhD
Executive Director
Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually
Impaired
LB 788 was introduced
by Senator Nancy Thompson, District 14/Sarpy County. Co-Sponsors include Bromm (District 23), Coordsen (32), Hartnett
(45), Jones (43), Kremer (34), Maxwell (9), Price (26), Quandahl (31), Raikes
(25), Redfield (12), Robak (22), Smith (48), Tyson (19), Wickersham (49). The Bill has been assigned to the Health and
Human Services Committee, chaired by Senator Jim Jensen (20).
As you know, the
Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NCBVI) was established
by the Unicameral as of July 1, 2000.
Prior to that we had been a part of the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS). On July 1 we began the
process of hiring business staff, establishing our own system of coding that
worked well with federal requirements, performing a wide range of functions necessary
to becoming an independent agency, and developing creative mechanisms to fund
the Commission. This latter point is
important, since NCBVI lost significant matching funds as a result of being
removed from HHS.
We knew from day one
that we would need to write
grants, seek donations, develop third party cooperative agreements and identify
other sources of matching funds in order to obtain all of the federal dollars
allocated to Nebraska for rehabilitation for the blind. We also knew that independent Commissions
provide the best possible services for blind and visually impaired persons,
nationwide.
LB 788 would do the
following:
1. Eliminates the Commission for the Blind and
Visually Impaired and its Board of Commissioners;
2. Transfers powers and duties to the Department
of Health and Human Services;
3. Does not establish a specific division within
HHS to administer vocational rehabilitation services for the blind (as required
by federal mandate);
4. Eliminates a Director to serve as the
administrative officer of services for the blind and visually impaired (as
required by federal mandate),
5. To whom all rehabilitation staff answer (as
required by federal mandate).
It does state that HHS will employ field agents,
teachers, and other personnel to provide the training and counseling services
needed by blind persons, but does not establish the clearly defined vocational
rehabilitation unit, as was the case in years past.
We are told that LB
788 was introduced because the Commission has submitted a deficit request. We also know that the key sponsor and many
of the cosponsors have been strong supporters of the Health and Human Services
System and were opposed to establishing the Commission for the Blind last
year. It is true that the Commission
submitted a deficit request of just under $54,000 for the current year. It is also true that since July 1, 2000, the
Commission has developed over $171,000 in additional matching funds. The Biennium Budget was due to the Governor
only a few short months after our Business Manager came on board. This allowed barely enough time to put
things in motion, much less build the funding base to the extent required in
order to project funding at the level needed to match all federal funds. We at the Commission, our Board, and the
consumers we serve are working on building the funds, and will do so on an
ongoing basis. The Board is in process
of forming a 501(c)(3) to serve as the fund-raising entity for the
Commission. Several interested
consumers have completed a similar entity specifically to raise funds for the
Newsline newspaper reading system (Digital News) and are actively working to
this end. Administrative staff has
several networking relationships in process, to find ways to augment existing
funds and services. All of these
efforts are done with conscious effort to improve our service system, to
provide the best possible range of services for our clients.
We hope that you
agree that the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired is on
the right track and that there needs to be more time before
Proposing its demise. As always, we welcome comments, suggestions, and questions
regarding this bill or any other topic relating to the services we provide.
Thank you for your
interest and your concern.”
------------------------------------------------------
Next, this ADA
lawsuit was brought by the Justice Department even though the Access Board has
not yet finalized its regulations under the ADA for access to passenger
vessels. It raises an as of yet
untested and novel issue of law under the ADA, and I give Attorney-General Reno
and Assistant Attorney-General Bill Lann Lee full credit for bringing such a
novel test case under Title III of the ADA.
I doubt whether Attorney General, John Ashkroft, would have exercised
his prosecutorial discretion to bring such an ADA test case in federal
court. This appeared in the Florida
Times-Union January 19. Let me know
your thoughts.
----------
Norwegian Cruise Line
refused to allow three blind people to
Go on cruises in violation of the Americans With
Disabilities Act, the Justice Department charged in a lawsuit Friday.
"People with
vision impairments should not be set adrift in
Society," Bill Lann Lee, assistant attorney
general for civil rights, said in announcing the federal suit. He called the
Miami Company's policy against blind passengers "blatant
discrimination" based on outdated stereotypes.
In one case, a blind
couple planning their honeymoon lost their deposit when the cruise line sent
forms requiring them to say they were at special risk of injuring themselves
and suggesting they see a doctor to determine if they were competent to travel.
In the other case, Stephen
Gomes traveled from home in Denver only to be told by the ship's doctor that he
would not be allowed to board a Norwegian ship in Houston. The company later wrote to say he was denied
access because he is blind and was traveling without an assistant, the suit
said.
The Justice
Department said it sued after the company failed to respond to a settlement
offer.
"Norwegian
Cruise Line does not discriminate against people with special needs," said
spokeswoman Fran Sevcik.
The company had not
received the complaint and would not comment on specific allegations, Sevcik
said.
"I'm just so
ecstatic," said Tammy Stevens, a Jacksonville woman who uses a wheelchair
and won a precedent-setting decision applying the ADA to U.S. cruise ships last
June. "I think that's long overdue. I think people have gotten around it
for long enough."
Stevens' federal
court victory over Premier Cruises had little practical effect because the
company lost its ships to its lenders last year.
The complaint seeks
compensation and a fine and wants Norwegian to be forced to change its policies
on disabled passengers and educate employees on accommodating
People with disabilities.
Molly McPherson,
spokeswoman for the 16-member International Council of Cruise Lines, had no
comment on the lawsuit because she hadn't seen it. But she noted cruise lines
have been working with federal regulators to develop regulations on ADA access.
"The cruise
industry as a whole values each and every passenger and makes every attempt to
meet or exceed passenger requests as well as special needs," she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Turning my thoughts briefly to the
state convention next month in Lincoln, the registration information should be
received in a matter of days. You will
note that the agenda is jammed packed with interesting programs and
speakers.
As a
friendly reminder, the dates are April 20-22 at the Airport Inn. Calling the hotel direct at (402) 475-9541
can make room reservations. Be sure to
mention ACBN to receive the group rate of $54.75 plus 9.5% taxes. And as you will note, Executive Director,
Charlie Crawford is this years national representative. Please complete the form and return to the
address provided to take advantage of the early-bird registration fee of
$20. Registration not postmarked by
April 1 will be subject to a $5 late fee, or $25. Start making plans now!
See you all in Lincoln.
Until
next time, here is a formula for success.
Think about it!
Rise early, work late, and strike oil.
It’s not true that nice guys finish last.
Nice guys are winners before the game even starts.
Happiness often sneaks through a door you didn’t know you left open.
When what we are is what we want to be, that’s happiness.
Trust yourself. You know more than you
think you do.