Title: Join APHA's Legislative Action Network and sign up for APHA's Mega Vote!

Author:

Section/SPIG: Aging & Public Health

Issue Date:

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APHA and its staff work hard to be fairly represented on Capitol Hill. There are several ways in which the Association encourages and enlists member involvement in its advocacy efforts. More than ever, this is a critical time for public health and as public health professionals APHA needs your help to ensure that our needs and accomplishments are being recognized on Capitol Hill.

In January, APHA purchased its first e-advocacy tool to help mobilize its members to send letters to their members of Congress electronically. In the last six months APHA has organized several advocacy efforts through the system. In June, APHA used its e-advocacy tool to rally more than 1,500 public health professionals to send electronic letters to their members of Congress. APHA's new advocacy tool has many great features that we encourage all members and public health professionals to use when advocating on behalf of a public health issue. These resources include:

• Mega Vote <www.capwiz.com/apha/megavote/>: Sign up to receive a weekly email on how your Senators and Representative voted during the week on important issues. APHA provides this resource through our e-advocacy site.

• Elected Official Finder <www.capwiz.com/apha/dbq/officials/>: Find biographical information on elected officials including the president, members of congress and agency heads.

• Issues and Legislation <www.capwiz.com/apha/issues/>: In this section you will find Capitol Hill Basics, pending public health legislation and key public health votes.

• Media Guide <www.capwiz.com/apha/media/>: Send electronic letters to the editor on issues important to public health directly to your local media outlets with APHA's media advocacy tool.

• Legislative Action Center <www.capwiz.com/apha/issues/>: See the latest APHA Action Alerts. Send e-mails to your members of Congress on legislation important to APHA.

APHA appreciates the advocacy efforts of its members and the entire public health community on issues that ultimately affect all of America. The most powerful message a member of Congress recieves comes from a constituent in his/her home district. That is why it is essential that APHA have a legislative advocacy network. APHA has a strong membership base and it is paramount to show our association's power by intensifying our advocacy efforts. Having a network of public health professionals willing to take action is essential to ensuring that the legislative priorities of APHA are addressed. Members of APHA can view a more in depth and regularly updated legislative update on APHA's Web site. While APHA will continue to request that its membership as a whole take action on issues effecting public health, the legislative network will serve as the "grasstops" of APHA entire Advocacy network. Join Now!

Finally, APHA's Government Relations staff works very closely with the Action Board on advocacy efforts within Sections. The Action Board is made up of a representative from each Section, a member at large and three Affiliate members. This year the Action Board divided up into three work groups that addressed APHA's three priority areas: Health Disparities, Access to Health Care and Infrastructure. The Health Disparities workgroup contributed a lot of their expertise to staff from Senators Frist and Kennedy's offices. If you are interested in getting more involved in APHA advocacy efforts, contact Sue Hughes <shughes@uic.edu>, our Action Board representative.