Jeff Thom

Whatever else can be said, it is certainly true that there's never a dull moment in the advocacy world, and that's definitely the case in 2017. Let's start with Washington, D.C.

We are at a hiatus in the effort to repeal and replace so-called Obama-care, with Trump-care.

The House bill would cost California millions of dollars in Medicaid money, and potentially render thousands of Medicaid recipients ineligible. Premiums for younger, healthier folks may decline, but those for seniors and persons with disabilities would certainly increase under state health care systems like Covered California. However, the Senate is in no mood to rush action on this topic, so it remains to be seen what will happen.

ACB and others in the blindness community have re-introduced The Medicare demonstration on Coverage of Low-Vision Devices Act, HR2050. This bill would, for a five-year demonstration project, cover low-vision aids, when prescribed. The goal would be to determine whether the cost of such coverage would result in offsetting savings through enabling persons with low vision to remain in their own homes and live independently. I urge you to write your Congressman and exhort him/her to co-sponsor this bill, which has authors in both parties. There had been speculation that a Medicare reform act might come up during this session of Congress, and our bill could be a candidate for incorporation into that act. However, it looks more like Medicare will be put on the back burner, for various reasons, so we'll need to continue to pursue HR2050 on its own.

One possibly positive outcome of the internal issues plaguing the Trump Administration is that little time and effort has been placed on the rolling back of regulations that harm business interests. Once that effort gets off the ground, we will be better able to predict whether the new regulatory slant will adversely impact our interest in a variety of areas.

Now, let's turn to the State Capitol.

As you may know, CCB is the only organization of people who are blind or have low vision actively participating in a statewide coalition to increase SSI payments in California: (Californians for SSI). In this regard, last summer's revenue projections for this coming 2017-18 budget appeared to show a down-turn. Although revenues are actually higher than projected, errors made by the state in calculating Medi-Cal expenses have caused a situation where the Governor, in his May revision of the budget, is not including many increases in his budget. Thus, it is unlikely that we will see any increase in the state's share of SSI payments. However, next year will likely see a $20 per month or more increase in the federal SSI payment due to changes in the cost of living.

Turning to AB1103, the bill that would allow bicycles to roll through stop signs or turn at a stop sign when the rider feels it is safe to do so, we are working hard for its defeat, and we had an initial victory when the author decided to put the bill on hold until January. He realized that the opposition was too great at the present time, but his goal is to come up with a compromise that will pass the Assembly in January. We will certainly be at the table, if the proponents of the bill truly decide to listen to our concerns. Get ready for a major fight on this bill.

The battle to end the existence of the State Guide Dog Board by defeating AB1705 is heating up. With Guide Dogs for the Blind, CCB, and NFBC joining many consumers not involved in any organization to defeat efforts to extend the life of the board, we will make sure the Legislature and the Governor are aware of just how important it is that the board ceases to exist. In its first committee, we were already successful in reducing from four to two the number of years proposed for extension of the board, but we are not stopping there. The bill is currently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and, although it is more than likely it will pass out of the Assembly, it still must pass the Senate and be signed by the Governor. Get ready to be called upon this summer, as we need all hands on deck, even those of you who are not guide dog handlers, to carry the day.

I want to conclude by mentioning work that will occur due to resolutions passed at the 2017 Convention. First, we are seeking to make the Legislature's websites and documents more accessible to those of us who are blind. I intend to work on this in the fall, and will be asking for help from those of you with expertise in this area. Secondly, next year we intend to seek state budget increases for more funding for the Braille and Talking Book Library and some funding for the Braille Institute Library as well. Third, we intend to seek legislation to address the lack of standards in the California Optometry Act governing low vision training and the prescribing of low vision devices. Finally, we are working with orientation and mobility instructors to address the issue of school districts making it difficult to take students off-campus or provide after-school instruction. If any of these issues are ones that you would like to work on, please contact me at jsthom@comcast.net or by phone at 916-995-3967.

Together we can move mountains!