A2005-02: Regarding Commendation for Legislation to Fund NFB-NEWSLINE®

Adopted In : 2005

Topics : legislation

WHEREAS, NFB-Newsline® is a telephone newspaper reading service offering ACCESS TO over two hundred newspapers and magazines FOR blind and other eligible individuals unable to read conventional print; and

WHEREAS, NFB-NEWSLINE® was previously funded in Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, but this grant expired on April 15th, 2005; and

WHEREAS, THE National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota requested that the Minnesota Legislature approve funding for NFB-NEWSLINE® through the Telephone Access Minnesota (TAM) fund; and

WHEREAS, Senator James Metzen and Representative Jim Knoblach served as chief authors of this legislation and shepherded it through many committee hearings until, in the end, it passed unanimously in both Houses - a most unusual occurrence at the Legislature; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota in convention assembled this ninth day of October, in the city of Bloomington, that this organization express its gratitude to Senator James Metzen and Representative Jim Knoblach for their unwavering support and leadership in seeing to the passage of funding for NFB-NEWSLINE®; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization thank the Minnesota Legislature for their unanimous vote to fund this service, which provides unprecedented access to daily newspapers and magazines for blind Minnesotans.

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