This time I was in the room.

At the request of the National Federation of the Blind, I introduced House Bill 976.

When deciding what is in the best interest of a child – whether the issue is adoption, guardianship, a Child In Need of Assistance, custody, or visitation, the focus cannot be on whether an individual is blind.

My bill would require a finding by clear and convincing evidence that blindness affects an individual’s ability to provide proper care.

That’s the most rigorous standard in a civil case.

The first change to the bill: we broadened its coverage to include a parent with any disability, as defined by federal law.

Today’s meeting was to see if we could reach a compromise with the Department of Human Resources, which objected to this higher standard in cases where DHR is involved.

Let’s take those cases out of the bill, I suggested, and spend the summer persuading DHR that the law should be expanded next year.

For now, we have less than three weeks to pass the amended bill.