A blind entrepreneur in Tennessee is sounding the alarm over a bill that he believes could put him and many others out of business.
The measure , sponsored by State Rep. Kevin Vaughn (R-Collierville) and State Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixon), started as an effort to get better food and snack options in the Cordell Hull Legislative building. Initially, the legislation handled problematic food vendors at state and local government buildings that weren’t living up to their contracts.
Later, the bill changed some aspects of the long-standing Randolph-Sheppard Act , which is a federal law that gives first priority to blind individuals applying for a vending contract at federal buildings. Tennessee adopted a “mini” version of the law to apply to all state and local building contracts. Under these initial revisions to the bill, other disability groups could also be considered for vendor contracts, in addition to individuals with blindness…