Nation Watch—Advocacy
TBI Act Update--Aug 2004
Last Updated:
In July the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health provided the TBI Act with an increase of $1 million for TBI programs under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for fiscal year 2005. This was great news, for once again it demonstrates that our continued efforts have made Congress aware of our needs and forced them to act. Nevertheless, there is still a chance for us to do better, and this need is tremendous, since the House of Representatives did not provide any increase for either the State Grant Program or for Protection and Advocacy Services. The Senate has not yet decided on what its levels for the TBI Act for fiscal year 2005, and consequently, no numbers have been finalized yet by Congress. Therefore, now is a pivotal time to call your Senators and Member in the House of Representatives and urge them to provide proper funding for the TBI Act for fiscal year 2005. We have momentum, and we must keep it going.
Call your Senators and Representatives today
Breif Review
Reauthorization
The TBI Act gets reauthorized every five years. Reauthorization means that the Act will stay as a law on the books. We successfully reauthorized the TBI Act in 2000, as part of the Children's Health Act of 2000.
Appropriations
Each year we need to ask Congress for specific appropriations (money) for the TBI Act. If the TBI Act is not appropriated (funded), then it just sits as a useless law on the books. The last several years people and families affected by TBI have been successful in convincing Congress of the need to increase funding for the TBI Act. We need to do this again for 2005: remember, Congress will not fund the TBI Act unless we ask! The only way to ask is to call or e-mail your Senators and Representative and urge them to support full funding for the TBI Act.CALL TO ACTION
Call your Senators and Members of the House of Representatives today and urge your Senators and Representative in the House to ensure that $24.7 million is provided for the TBI Act for FY 2005. Specifically:
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC):Surveillance, Registries and National Education/ Public Awareness: $8.7 million.
HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (HRSA):
State grants: $9.943 million
Protections and Advocacy Services: $6 million
NEED HELP?
If you don't know who your Congresspersons are, please visit BIRF's Advocacy Center and under "Elected Officials" fill in your zip code and click "go."