What does getting an office for the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing (ODBH) funded in Washington, DC mean for the bill for open captions currently languishing in the DC Council?

It means that if DC funds the ODBH, DC will be in a better position to pass that bill and the ODBH can permanently protect access to open captions in DC movie theaters for DC residents and visitors!

Time is short though! Today (July 9, 2021) the DC Association for the Deaf is still advocating for funding in the FY 22 DC budget for the ODBH. There could possibly be no funding even though in December 2020, the DC Council passed legislation to establish this new Office.

There’s one chance left to save the new ODBH in DC, and we have only until July 16 because the DC budget proposal is being released on July 19! The DC Association for the Deaf is petitioning the Mayor of DC and the DC Council Chairman to fund this new Office. How much would it cost to fund the new ODBH? $836,000. Less than a million dollars to properly serve deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing DC residents and visitors to the nation’s capital.

Please sign the DC petition now: https://change.org/fundtheODBH

Also!

Don’t forget Colorado! Colorado still needs a lot of signatures on the petition for open captions at https://change.org/ocmoviesnow to prove to Colorado’s senators Joann Ginal and Jessie Danielson that the demand and support for open captions exists in Colorado and everywhere else in the U.S.A!