By Don Burns, NFBC Legislative Representative
This legislative year has been extremely challenging. The two NFBC-sponsored bills are AB-768 (Nation, touch screen technology) and AB-897 (Coto, Braille math standards).
AB-768 relates to self check-in for hotels, Amtrak, and airlines. This bill has received some serious opposition. The makers of touch screen technology have agreed to meet with Assemblymember Nation’s staff and the NFB sometime in September. It has been made a two-year bill. This means it will again be heard in January 2006.
AB-897 will go to Senate Appropriations in August. Assembly-member Coto’s office is working to set up a meeting with the Governor’s staff. This piece of legislation is one of the most important bills the NFBC has sponsored. It provides math and language-arts standards for blind students, equivalent to those for sighted students. The passage of this legislation will create a huge step forward in our fight for literacy for blind students.