House 29 - A bill to make public documents available in ASCII. The Massachusetts Legislature now has an historic opportunity to pass a law that would not only make public documents truly accessible to people with print handicaps, but also change the nature and method of how government operates. House #29 filed by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind as a means of getting public documents available to people who must rely on means other than print to receive information has at least three other major reasons for passage. If the documents of state government were cataloged in ascii text files and placed where the public could search and download them, then access to information would truly be a reality for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Imagine access to those agencies who impact upon issues you care about. Feasibility studies, impact reports, cost projections, policy implications and much more would be available to the public in ways never seen before! Imagine the positive impact upon the environment as thousands less trees would be cut to feed the appetite of governmental paper generation. Not only would more forests remain standing, but rivers and underground streams would be saved from the wastes produced in the processing of paper and all that goes into printing and distribution. Finally, imagine the cost saving to the taxpayers. Every time 20 pieces of paper are copied, the taxpayer has spent a dollar. Multiply this by the obvious glut of paper within government and real money is soon lost when a clean and efficient electronic environment could have done the job! Think about it. What if not only state government were to adopt increased electronic data processing, but the federal government and the company in which you work! Yes, there will still be paper, but the ounce of electronic processing will prevent the pound of paper! the idea is so simple that it defies why it has not already happened. Clearly the views that it is for fiscal people, tech types, secretaries, and others who are somehow classified as skill specific must change, but the compelling reasons for change are not only "nice ideas" for others to implement, but a reality we must all come to. The alternative is piecemeal access for the public, increased environmental damage and more money to feed the governmental paper mill. If you agree with the above, get in touch with your Representative and Senator on Beacon Hill. Let them know there are reasons to support House #29 and help them to understand that this is not just another proposal, but a recognition of how government in the future can really be responsive to the needs of the citizenry. HOUSE 29 Accompanying the second recommendation of the Commission for the Blind (House No. 27). State Administration. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts In the Year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Two. An Act authorizing and directing the Secretary of State, who shall make written laws and public documents available and accessible in electronic format for use by the print handicapped through the American Standard Code of Information Interchange or its successor. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: Chapter 4, Section 7, clause 26 shall be amended by inserting the following after the last sentence:-- For the purposes of persons who are print handicapped, the term "access" shall mean availability in such a manner or form as to provide the information otherwise available in the print document Such manner or form may include, but is not limited to, audio-recording, electronic computer files in American Standard Code of Information Interchange or its successor, braille or any other means of effective access.