Friday, April 27, 2018
Posted by: Courtney Duggan

AWHONN had a successful fly-in lobby day, AWHONN on the Hill, in April. Forty-four nurses held 69 meetings with members of Congress or congressional staff to discuss three bills: HR3692 – Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act / S2317 – Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act, HR1318 – Preventing Maternal Deaths Act / S1112 – Maternal Health Accountability Act, and HR947 – Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act / S337 – Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act. Participating nurses were briefed on each of the bills the day before their meetings. In the case of the Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act they were briefed by the bill’s author, Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY-20). In each meeting, nurses asked that the member of Congress cosponsor each of the three bills. Cosponsoring a bill shows support and helps to make the case that that a bill would pass if brought to a vote. AWHONN staff envision this event as the first of a series of annual lobby days.