Whereas blindness is, manifestly, an economic liability because of massive denial of opportunity for employment and;
whereas blind persons incur extra costs in daily living because of their blindness, particularly those seeking self-improvement and;
whereas 43 states now provide optional supplements to SSI, with these supplements being federally administered in 26 states and state-administered in 17 states and;
whereas the current: Maryland federally administered supplement to SSI, unfortunately, benefits very few blind citizensand;
whereas Social Security law permits supplementation of benefits to various categories of recipients at various levels and;
whereas Iowa provides a federally administered SSI supplement to blind persons only and California, Massachusetts and Nevada provide federally administered SSI supplements to all eligible recipients, but with larger amounts going to the blind than to the aged and;
whereas $208,00 per month for an individual and $312.00 per month for a couple, currently the maximum Federal SSI benefits, fall far short of providing subsistence, especially for blind persons with families and;
whereas bills designed to establish a reasonable SSI supplement for blind persons have twice passed the Senate and once passed the House;
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland, in convention assembled in the city of College Park, Maryland, on this 27th day of October, 1979:
that the members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland vigorously support a legislative proposal to establish a federally administered state supplement to SSI for blind persons of not less than $50.00 per month and:
be it further resolved that the members of this organization commend Delegate R. Clayton Mitchell for his hard work on behalf of this proposal during the 1979 legislative session and;
be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to every member of the Maryland General Assembly.