The House Health and Human Services Committee has indicated that the House Appropriations Committee will likely move House Bill 1813 (inflationary index legislation for mental health/mental retardation [MH/MR] programs) from committee as early as today. This means that House Bill 1813 could come up for a House floor vote as early as tomorrow. The bill has been in the Appropriations Committee since December 14, 2005. A fiscal note for the bill was not completed as of this morning but is expected to be released later today.
Contact
House Members Immediately
PCPA members are asked to contact their state representatives immediately.
Information regarding identifying one’s representative or locating contact
information for him/her can be found in PCPA’s Legislative Directory
booklet or on the web site at www.paproviders.org in the Legislative Affairs
Section.
Background
Information
Information pertinent to House Bill 1813 including a legislative analysis,
talking points, and testimony, can be found from the Legislative Tracking
device in the Legislative Affairs section of PCPA’s web site.
Additionally, members can refer to information (also available on the web
site) prepared earlier this month for PCPA’s district lobby month.
Message
to Legislators
Representatives need to hear a clear, succinct message regarding House Bill
1813. Below are suggested points to highlight during phone calls with legislators
or their staff:
“Hello, my name is [ ] and I am a provider/staffer/consumer of mental health/mental retardation or MH/MR services. I live in [ ] county. I am a voter and a taxpayer and I live in your district [if appropriate].
I understand that House Bill 1813, which would allow for an inflationary index tied to the national Home Health Market Basket Index (HHMBI) for MH/MR programs, will likely come up for a floor vote in the House, perhaps as early as January 25. The MH/MR system has historically requested annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Institution of an index would allow for proper inflationary adjustments and alleviate the need for an annual COLA request.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your support on this bill.”
*If the legislator you have contacted is a co-sponsor of the bill please thank him/her for their past support. Co-sponsors (by last name) are: Kenney, Allen, Baldwin, Barrar, Bastian, Bebko-Jones, Belardi, Belfanti, Benninghoff, Beyer, Blackwell, Blaum, Bunt, Buxton, Caltagirone, Cappelli, Causer, Cawley, Cornell, Costa, Crahalla, Curry, Dally, Denlinger, DeWeese, Diven, J. Evans, Fabrizio, Fichter, Fleagle, George, Gingrich, Godshall, Good, Goodman, Grucela, Haluska, Hanna, Harhai, Harhart, Harper, Hasay, Herman, Hess, Hutchinson, James, Josephs, Killion, LaGrotta, Lederer, Levdansky, Maitland, Mann, Markosek, McCall, McGill, McIlhattan, Micozzie, Mundy, Mustio, Myers, Nailor, O’Neill, Petrarca, Petri, Phillips, Pistella, Quigley, Readshaw, Reed, Reichley, Rooney, Ross, Rubley, Sainato, Samuelson, Santoni, Scavello, Shapiro, Staback, R. Stevenson, T. Stevenson, Surra, E.Z. Taylor, J. Taylor, Thomas, True, Turzai, Walko, Wansacz, Watson, Wilt, Wojnaroski, and Yudichak.
