Government Action Center improves member access to legislation

Published on
information-circle This article is more than 3 years old

 

AVMA members can now access real-time information about Congress, using the Government Action Center on the AVMA Web site. This new member service provides the most timely access to congressional activity, particularly on legislation of importance to veterinary medicine.

The Government Action Center allows AVMA members to search all bills introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, and to find bill sponsors, history, language, and other basic information about legislation.

AVMA members can gain additional insight into legislative issues they may wish to ask their members of Congress to support by viewing issue briefs published by the AVMA. Using the Government Action Center, AVMA members can learn more about legislation such as the Minor Use Minor Species Act (H.R. 1956/S. 1346), check to see whether their members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, then find contact information for their members of Congress to request that they support the legislation or to thank them for their support.

The resource also allows AVMA members to view the status of all bills that AVMA staff are monitoring, including but not limited to legislation addressing animal health, research, small business, animal welfare, agroterrorism, disaster preparedness, animal welfare, education, animal drugs, food safety, environmental concerns, and wildlife.

The Government Action Center is a benefit for AVMA members, but the general public can still access information about the AVMA's general legislative activities on the AVMA Web site.

Staff at the AVMA Governmental Relations Division will maintain customized content for the legislative site. They hope that the new service will allow AVMA members to communicate more effectively with their members of Congress about issues of importance to the profession.

To access the action center, AVMA members can go to the Governmental Relations Division page on the AVMA Web site, www.avma.org/grd. After selecting the Government Action Center link, users will be prompted to enter their AVMA member number and password.

AVMA members who have questions about accessing the Government Action Center or who would like more information about the AVMA's legislative activities should contact April Demert, policy and program specialist, AVMA Governmental Relations Division, (800) 321-1473, Ext. 3205, or ademertatavma [dot] org (ademert[at]avma[dot]org).