Director of Government Affairs & Advocacy
In case you hadn’t noticed there’s a big election coming up.
The upcoming presidential election is sure to have an impact on our country, your locale and the fragile x community. Whether its Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, funding of medical research and clinical trials by the NIH, CDC and DOD, passage of a bill allowing tax advantaged savings for and by individuals with disabilities, seclusion and restraint, support for the Fragile X Clinical & Research Consortium (FXCRC), a recently introduced Pediatric Research Consortium Bill, rules governing payment of minimum wage, services provided through public schools, inclusion, enforcement of the ADA and other laws preventing discrimination, changes to and enforcement of the IDEA, mandatory budget cuts set to occur at the end of the year, the 2013 and 2014 budgets, tax cuts, tax increases, FDA action on drugs now in clinical trials or the general health of the economy and the impact the debt and deficit have on the availability of discretionary dollars for the government to spend, this election will have consequences.
Please do not sit this election out. Make an informed decision about the things that are important to you, your family and Fragile X and VOTE! The balance of power could change. The majority party in the White House, Senate and House of Representatives could change.
And then, after the election, we will have work to do. We’ll either get back to business trying to move our agenda forward with old friends or there could be some new sheriffs in town that we’ll need to get to know and start making new friends with right quick. We’ll likely be facing a combination of both. That’s where the next NFXF Advocacy Day comes in.
Every year is important but 2013 could be a great year to get things done. Advocacy Day is right around the corner. March 5th and 6th, 2013 will be here before you know it. Start putting aside some travel funds now. Check the airline websites, set a price alert on Bing or Expedia, or Kayak to get the best airfares. Registration for Advocacy Day will be open later this month.
See you in DC!