ACTION ALERT: Tell Your Senators to Vote No on Webb Amendment to SCHIP Bill

ACTION ALERT: Tell Your Senators to Vote “No” on Webb Amendment to SCHIP Bill

The SCHIP reauthorization bill is currently being debated by the Senate. Yesterday, Senator Webb (D-VA) offered a damaging amendment to the bill that would increase the federal tobacco tax by only 37 cents, instead of the proposed 61 cents included in the legislation and already passed by the House of Representatives. Please email or call your senators TODAY and relay this message: “Vote NO on the Webb amendment to the SCHIP bill that would lower the federal tobacco tax. Please support the full 61 cent increase to the federal tobacco tax. Funding SCHIP through the 61 cent tobacco tax increase will help improve public health and our economy. Higher tobacco taxes reduce tobacco use, and reductions in tobacco result in healthcare cost savings. All of Americans will benefit from this policy.” To e-mail your representatives and senators, go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ and enter your zip code on the left hand side of the page. Follow the links to the contact information for each of your senators and representatives. Alternately, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Let us know how your Senators responded to your call. Email liz@oralhealthamerica.org.

Oral Health America improves public health by eliminating oral disease, especially for our most vulnerable citizens, by educating and empowering communities to provide access to care and advocating for policies that create oral health parity. To find out how you can support Oral Health America’s advocacy initiatives, visit www.oralhealthamerica.org, or e-mail Elizabeth Rogers, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, liz@oralhealthamerica.org.