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90_HJ0020
LRB9005573CBcb
1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, There are approximately 350,000 Americans who
3 are blind between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five; and
4 WHEREAS, The unemployment rate among this population is a
5 staggering seventy percent; and
6 WHEREAS, In 1977, the earnings test under Title II of the
7 Social Security Act for senior citizens and persons who are
8 blind were linked; and
9 WHEREAS, This linkage helped many persons who are blind
10 to become self-sufficient; and
11 WHEREAS, The 104th Congress passed the Senior Citizens
12 Freedom to Work Act which ended the earnings test linkage and
13 will increase the earnings limit for seniors to $30,000 in
14 2002; and
15 WHEREAS, The current federal law provides an earnings
16 limit for persons who are blind of $12,000 per year in 1996
17 and only $14,400 per year in 2002; and
18 WHEREAS, This limit is a major disincentive to employment
19 because, often times, after taxes and work related expenses,
20 working fails to provide an income greater than the
21 disability benefits that are lost as a result of going to
22 work; and
23 WHEREAS, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) and
24 Representative Barbara Kennelly (D-Connecticut) have
25 introduced the Blind Persons Earnings Equity Act as S. 375
26 and H.R. 612, respectively, in order that the traditional
27 link be re-established; and
28 WHEREAS, Gainful employment is integral to the
29 fulfillment of the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit
30 of happiness in the Declaration of Independence; and
-2- LRB9005573CBcb
1 WHEREAS, The Illinois Constitution was ordained and
2 established, in part, to "provide for the fullest development
3 of the individual"; therefore, be it
4 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
6 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that this legislative body
7 respectfully urges that the Congress of the United States
8 expeditiously pass the Blind Persons Earnings Equity Act; and
9 be it further
10 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
11 presented to the President of the United States, the Speaker
12 of the United States House of Representatives, the President
13 Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, the Secretary of the
14 United States Senate, the Clerk of the United States House of
15 Representatives, and the members of the Illinois
16 congressional delegation.