The National Federation of the Blind of Virginia is a powerful force advocating for blind Virginians. For 2021, we will be conducting our legislative advocacy over the Zoom platform and we will need you to commit to attending a few brief Zoom meetings with your legislators. Interestingly, virtual appointments mean you are not required to make as large of a time commitment to participate. However, it also means we need to tell legislators that we have a constituent attending or they won’t meet with us.
Here is the 3 step process:
A) By Wednesday, January 6, Email Tracy.soforenko@gmail.com with your name, address, and availability on Tuesday, January 19. Most appointments will be in the morning between 8:00 AM and 11:30 AM but some may be in the afternoon. We need to start making appointments so we need to know who can participate. Don’t wait, tell us you are coming.
B) Attend one of two Legislative prep sessions to be held over Zoom on either Saturday, January 16 at 1:00 PM or Monday, January 18 at 7:00 PM. During this training session, we will explain our issues, connect everyone with their team leaders, and make certain all questions are answered.
C) Attend the appointments that work for your schedule on Tuesday, January 19 focusing on the appointments with your Delegate and Senator.
The team leaders will be provided a Zoom account for their use and booking appointments in advance. This model allows each team to be booking concurrent appointments.
Our goal is to enable everyone to participate in advocacy in an easy way but we need you to tell us you are coming.
We need you to ensure our voice is heard in the offices of the General Assembly.
If you have never attended a Richmond Seminar, we strongly encourage you to attend and participate in representative democracy in action. Everyone is assigned to a team with an experienced leader. The General Assembly members and their staff are very receptive and welcoming. They know we are organized, articulate, and well versed in the subject matter.
We will put everyone on the team to work, sharing our issues and answering the questions of legislators and their staff.
The issues we will bring to Richmond are still under consideration but will most likely include:
* Accessible absentee voting
* Expanding resources for the Virginia Department for the Blind and
Vision Impaired; and
* Special Hiring Authority for Virginia State Government jobs.
The final list of issues will be presented at the two training sessions scheduled for Saturday, January 16 and Monday, January 18.
We will also hold a virtual Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, January 16 starting at 2:00 PM. We have bills being drafted that will need co-sponsors. Chapter Presidents should make contact with their General Assembly members in their local offices before the end of the year. If you need assistance in identifying them, contact Tracy Soforenko.
A virtual meeting in December with our elected legislators in their home districts will go a long way in establishing the recognition that is needed for our Zoom meetings. All Chapter members are encouraged to participate. If you intend on doing a meeting or need help setting one up, please contact Tracy Soforenko.
Our board meeting is scheduled for 2:00 PM Saturday afternoon, January 16,.
Chapter presidents must provide an initial list of the names of the individuals planning to attend from their chapter to Tracy Soforenko by Sunday, January 3, 2021 and additional names as they are known so we can establish and update teams in advance.
Finally, if anyone in your chapter is interested in being a team leader, have them reach out to Tracy Soforenko directly. If you have any questions, please contact Tracy Soforenko at 202 285-4595 or tracy.soforenko@gmail.com