Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America Blind Businessmen and Businesswomen Building a Better America!

A LEGISLATIVE REVIEW…

The first three months of 2007 have been extremely busy and noteworthy.  The 2007 NTCBV (Sagebrush) Convention and the American Council of the Blind Legislative Seminar were held in this timeframe.

The most significant information from these conferences was the announcement of the Blind Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (BEA), which represents blind organizations such as ACB, NFB, RSVA, NABM, NCSAB, and NIB.  These organizations pooled funding and hired    Ms. Catriona Macdonald in Washington, D.C., the legal representative of the Blind Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (BEA), and she gave a very extensive report on the legislative challenges for the Randolph-Sheppard Act and the Business Enterprise Program, including the Department of Defense (DOD) contracts.

The BEA has not, as of yet, recruited a Senatorial sponsor for the Business Enterprise Enhancement Program, which would enable blind vendors to expand business opportunities in areas other than food service and place the BEP under the Department of Commerce rather than the Department of Education for better services and business loan opportunities. 

Ms. Macdonald also spoke to the issues of roadside rest area privatization and the proposed OASIS program.  The Department of Transportation is still working on the definitions for the Oasis program, but the BEA will be contacting vendors from key states or districts to join them in Washington for meetings with members of Congress and Staff.   Indiana and California presently have proposed legislation regarding roadside rest areas and vendors will need to stay alert to those proposals.

Terry Smith, Chairperson of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind (NCSAB), also spoke on the subject of challenges to the Randolph-Sheppard priority from the DOD and the Kennedy HELP Committee.  Mr. Ray Hopkins, (Dept. of Education in Washington, D.C.), also spoke at both conferences.  It became very apparent that the Dept. of Education is taking “heat” from the Kennedy HELP Committee and the BEA, as well as the DOD, according to the January DOD report.  Mr. Hopkins assured vendors and State Licensing Agency administrators alike that the Dept. of Education will be taking a more active part in the administration of the Randolph-Sheppard Act.  They are presently doing site visits in various states.

The ACB Legislative Seminar held in Washington, D.C. was extremely informative as well.  We were given information on several blindness-related issues. The topics were: the Randolph-Sheppard Program; telecommunications including emergency announcements on television, wireless, cable and internet access for the blind; video description for television programming; accessible verified voting; Social Security (SGA earnings cap, SSDI SGA cliff, marriage penalty, and asset limitation); ADA restoration; and accessible currency.   All of the participants then spent a day on Capitol Hill where they visited with Senators and Congressmen and/or their aides.  This experience was very important, as we were able to distribute our new RSVA brochures with other ACB material.   The meetings were positive reinforcements on our blindness issues, and enabled us to make new legislative contacts.  Several of us were able to arrange further meetings in our home districts, which will be vital for us to continue our work on Randolph-Sheppard priority, DOD contracts, roadside rest area issues, etc.