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Advocates
Excel:
2009 Accomplishments
Celebrating
our State Public Policy Successes:
Recap of 2009 Advocacy Accomplishments
While
the State’s worsening budget
deficit dealt a serious
blow to the infrastructure and capacity of Alzheimer’s
programs
that we have helped
build over the last twenty years, Association staff and volunteer
advocates made
significant progress in increasing visibility and awareness of the
disease among
policy makers and in advancing our long-term policy agenda. We
identified and cultivated four new
advocate leaders among the ranks of the Legislature—Assembly
Members Kevin de
Leon and Mariko Yamada and Senators Mark Leno and Darrell Steinberg.
Unlike
past years when we have
tracked many pieces of
legislation, advocates focused our state public policy efforts on
several very
strategic events and ensuring the State begins to prepare for the
doubling of California
families
living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias by 2030.
We
increased visibility with policy
makers through two media events, two advocacy days and numerous message
drops
in the Capitol.
The
motto this year was “Let them hear
from us early and
often.” We began in February
with a
media event on the State Senate Floor in which three legislators
participated—Senators
Darrell Steinberg and Mark Leno and Assembly Member Mariko Yamada. Our
advocates got to sit in the Senators’ desks as they witnessed
release of the
first-ever California Alzheimer’s Data Report.
This
was the first time such an event had been held on the
floor, and
the event drew the attention of First Lady Maria Shriver’s
Chief
of Staff. Media coverage was
widespread,
appearing on
the front page of four California
newspapers and Business Journals across the country.
The
event was followed by our
advocates from throughout the
state fanning out to visit every legislator’s office as well
as
Governor
Schwarzenegger’s. Advocates asked
for
legislators to help promote the Alzheimer’s data report
through
posting the
report on their site or linking to the report. Forty-one created yet
more visibility
with legislators and their constituents by posting on their websites or
putting
in their newsletters.
Three
months later we were back. Advocates
convened for
an Alzheimer’s
Action
Day in May and again visited every office with our budget messages. This
followed four weeks in which a written
message had been hand-carried to every legislator’s Capitol
office.
Finally,
on World
Alzheimer’s Day, we returned for a media
event held in the Governor’s office to launch the State
Alzheimer’s Plan. More than forty
advocates and health and
aging services leaders gathered to hear former Speaker Willie Brown,
Senator
Elaine Alquist and Health and Human Services Secretary Kim
Belshé talk about
the importance of the Plan.
After a three-year
campaign, we launched
development of the State Alzheimer’s Disease Plan.
For
the last three years, the
Association’s number one
policy goal for states has been development of state
Alzheimer’s
plans. There are now more than
twenty-six
states
that have started their plans, and half have completed them.
In
2008 it appeared California’s
efforts would be derailed by the worsening state budget deficit. However,
with leadership from Governor
Schwarzenegger’s administration, the California Council
exceeded
our goal of
raising $250,000 from a foundation grant and raised $277,000 from four
foundations: The SCAN Foundation, The California Endowment, Archstone
Foundation and The Gilbert Foundation. This
partnership between the Alzheimer’s Association,
Administration
and four of California’s
leading
foundations will also be a tremendous asset once the plan is completed
and work
begins to implement its policy recommendations.
Beyond
the involvement of these
four foundations, the
Council was successful in promoting interest among a broad range of
stakeholders who applied to be on the Task Force that will develop the
state
plan. Leaders from California’s
research and
training
institutions, providers throughout the continuum of care, all levels of
health
professionals and the workforce, county and state government officials,
as well
as family members were selected. Volunteer
and staff advocates from the Association will
also serve.
Partnerships
with the California Commission
on Aging, California
Compassionate Care Coalition, the California Alzheimer’s
Disease
Centers,
County Welfare Directors Association and others are forming to be
involved in
different aspects of plan development.
We preserved the only
source of state
funding for Alzheimer’s research grants.
The
Association sponsored AB 292 (Yamada),
which extended
the sunset for the Alzheimer’s Research Fund tax check-off to
2015. This fund yields about
$500,000
annually in
taxpayer contributions that are distributed as grants to California
researchers. More than $9.8 million
has
been raised since
the fund was created in 1988.
Up
until this year, funds from
the tax check-off were
matched by funds from the State, however, all of those funds were
eliminated in
the state budget by the Legislature. It
will become more critical than ever that Alzheimer’s
advocates
promote
contributions to the tax check-off in order to ensure the research
momentum is
continued.
We gave early stage
advocates given
new opportunities to have their voices heard.
With
our success in enacting SB 491
(Alquist—State Plan
bill), two members with early stage Alzheimer’s were added to
the
State
Alzheimer’s Advisory Committee. This
committee meets quarterly and advises Health and Human Services
Secretary Kim
Belshé on Alzheimer’s programs and policies.
In
September, the Secretary appointed Susan Franklin (Los
Angeles)
and Doralee Heisler (Eureka)
to the Committee.
2009
also saw inclusion of two
early stage advocates on the
California Council—Susan Franklin and Robert Durham.
In
addition, the Council ensured the media
events announcing release of the California Alzheimer’s data
report in February
and launch of the State Alzheimer’s Plan in September
included
Susan Franklin
as a speaker.
Thank you to all our
volunteer and staff advocates who made our 2009 advocacy successes
possible.
California Council of the Alzheimer's Association
921 Eleventh Street, Suite 601
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-447-2731 · 916-447-2741 ( FAX)
24
/ 7 Helpline
1-800-272-3900
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