Resolve, To Establish a Working Group of Stakeholders To Review the Current and Future Needs of Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals and To Establish Long-term Solutions To Fund Those Needs

Sec. 1. Working group to review current and future needs of blind and visually impaired individuals. Resolved: That the Commissioner of Labor shall establish within existing resources a working group of stakeholders to review the current and future needs of blind and visually impaired individuals. The stakeholder group must include representatives from the Department of Labor, Catholic Charities Maine, The Iris Network, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Department of Education, the Disability Rights Center and other interested parties. The group shall assess the current and future needs of blind and visually impaired individuals to determine the costs of those needs and to design a solution that will work to meet those needs; and be it further

Sec. 2. Reporting date established. Resolved: That the Commissioner of Labor shall report the working group’s findings, including the proposed oversight of the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, to the Joint Standing Committee on Labor and the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs by January 31, 2010.