Senators Specter (R-PA) and Harkin (D-IA) will offer an amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution this week that will increase funding for health and education programs by $7 billion. The amendment will restore funding for public health programs, including mental health research and services, that have been eroded by years of flat funding and cuts. Last year alone, public health programs lost over $1 billion in funding. The FY 2007 budget resolution serves as a guide for House and Senate Appropriators allocating the funding for individual programs and services. Grassroots support is critical to Senate passage of the Specter/Harkin amendment, and thereby heading off deep human-services cuts.

Despite President Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health’s call for making mental health a national priority, the Administration’s budget would cut mental health funding at the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) by 4 percent (a $35 million reduction from $884 to $849 million).

The following is a list of targeted Senators. If your Senator is on this list, please make a special effort to call.

ACTION: AACAP members and friends are asked to contact both of their Senators this week to urge them to vote YES on the Specter-Harkin amendment to increase funding for health and education programs in the Senate Budget Resolution. Call 1-202-224-3121 to reach the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your Senator, or give your state if you do not know the name of your Senators. When connected to the office, ask for the Health Legislative Assistant. If you leave a voicemail message, include your name and phone number. A sample message is as follows:
"I am a constituent and a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist from (your town), and I am calling to urge Sen.___ vote for the Specter-Harkin amendment to the budget reconciliation bill. This amendment restores urgently needed funding for public health programs, including mental health service and research. Without passage of the Specter-Harkin amendment, more young people will remain incarcerated because community mental health services are not available."

After you have talked with your two Senators offices, please email the AACAP Central Office at nmoore@aacap.org.

View a complete list of current AACAP Legislative Alerts to learn more about the AACAP’s legislative agenda, including the priority workforce shortage legislation, the Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act, H.R.1106/S.537. If you have questions or would like more assistance in contacting your member of Congress, please call 800. 333. 7636, ext. 126, or e-mail Nuala Moore at nmoore@aacap.org.