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State Convention
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NFB Newsline MEMORANDUM To: Members of the Colorado General Assembly From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Date: January 18, 2005 FUNDING FOR NFB NEWSLINE The sighted enjoy immediate access to daily newspapers, and the printed news has long been an important medium through which society keeps track of and participates in the daily life of our country. Until recently, the blind and visually impaired had no immediate access to daily newspapers. If they had any, it came through volunteers, family, or friends to read the news. Even then, only portions of the newspaper got read and often the blind had no control over which portions were read. In the mid 1990-s the National Federation of the Blind created NFB Newsline for the Blind (Newsline). With this revolutionary system, the blind are able to pick up their touch tone phone, call a toll free number, and select from over 150 different newspapers and magazines including the Denver Post and the Colorado Springs Gazette. Each day the participating newspapers provide a digital feed of their publication to the system, and then the system reads the paper through a synthesized voice to the blind user. By using touch-tones, subscribers control which paper is read, which section and articles are played, and how fast the voice speaks. In other words, the blind now have the ability to move through the paper much as the sighted do. THE PROBLEM Through a federal grant and other private funding, we have been able to offer Newsline free to any blind or visually impaired individual who wishes to subscribe. That grant ended almost two years ago and private sources of funding prove to be inconsistent and difficult to obtain. To run the program most effectively in Colorado, it takes approximately $100,000.00 a year to fund the service, but $50,000.00 will keep the system on-line and available. Thus far, we have found a way to scrape together enough money to keep the system open at a minimum level. However, if we cannot find a way to secure a more stable source of funding, the blind of Colorado will lose the ability to read the news on the same terms as their sighted peers. THE SOLUTION The blind of Colorado realize that our state has faced a severe budget crisis over the last few years. We know, however, that there are a number of existing funding mechanisms that go unused or underused. For example, this Assembly uses an existing and little known tax on phone services, the Disabled Telephone Users Fund, to meet the telecommunication needs of disabled individuals. We urge the General Assembly to allocate at least $50,000.00 to fund NFB Newsline. Many other states have already done so, and we hope that Colorado will keep this valuable service alive. For further information on this issue, contact Scott LaBarre, Chairman, Legislative Concerns, NFB Colorado at 303 504-5979 (voice), 303 757-3640 (fax), or slabarre@interfold.com (e-mail).
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