Legislative Alert - Senate Votes Down PortmanAmendment

A message from Jesse Hartle

Fellow Federationists:

Today the United States Senate allowed Senator Portman's Amendment
1742 to the surface transportation bill, S. 1813, to be considered on
the floor. Senator
Portman's amendment sought to allow states to open commercial
ventures on federal highways and interstates. This policy would have
dramatically impacted
the livelihood of blind entrepreneurs in the Randolph-Sheppard
program who operate vending facilities along the federal highways and
interstates across
our country.

I am pleased to tell you that, due to the advocacy of the National
Federation of the Blind, Senator Portman's Amendment 1742 was voted
down by a count of
86 to 12 by the United States Senate. I appreciate the hard work
that you put into protecting the interest of blind vendors. I will
continue to keep
you posted on this issue, as this bill will soon be sent to the House
of Representatives for consideration.

Jesse

Jesse Hartle
Government Programs Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Ext. 2233
Email: jhartle@nfb.org