Category Archives: Action Alert

Action Alert: Ask Congress to Pass FY 2015 Funding Bill and Bill Reducing Regulatory Burden

The continuing resolution currently funding the government expires on December 11th. Draft bills increasing federal science funding have been approved by both the Senate and House Appropriations, but have yet to be considered by the full Congress. Please write to your representatives urging them to pass an omnibus spending bill in the next few weeks.

Link to the FASEB Action Alert Page where you can contact your legislators

As mentioned in the last post, the House passed HR 5056, the Research and Development Efficiency Act. This bill would decrease the regulatory burden on universities and investigators. Contact your senators and ask them to pass this bill before the end of the Congressional session.

Link to the FASEB Action Alert Page where you can contact your senators

Keep the Momentum of the Ice Bucket Challenge Going: Urge Your Legislators to Support the Accelerate Biomedical Research Act

This summer you couldn’t miss the videos of friends and celebrities dumping themselves with ice water and challenging others to do the same and/or donate to the ALS Association. Over 300 million people donated $100 million and counting to the ALS Association thanks to the viral ice bucket challenge (as of Aug 29th). Money donated to the ALS Association supports research for a cure for ALS, advocacy efforts, public education and outreach, and community services for those suffering form ALS. You can learn about ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in one fun cartoon by Dwayne Godwin & Jorge Cham.

ALS

 

While the outpouring of individual charity has been heartening, disease specific foundations don’t have the resources needed to fund research into cures on their own. To date the ALS Association has committed $99 million to support biomedical research on ALS compared to over $229 million invested by the NIH in ALS research in just the past 5 years.  The NIH and other federal science funding agencies also have more consistent funding and the ability to strategically spend money on basic science research in addition to large scale clinical trials. As I’ve discussed before, the sequester, biomedical inflation, and flat funding to the NIH and NSF have decreased federal funding for biomedical science by ~20% since 2003.

So, keep supporting your favorite charities, but increase the chances that biomedical researchers find a cure by asking your elected officials to support continued investment in science. Call your representatives and ask them to support Senator Tom Harkin’s Accelerate Biomedical Research Act. This bill would increase NIH funding in 2021 to the level it would have been if funding had kept pace with inflation after 2003 ($46.2B).

Go here for Research!America’s easy contact form and email template supporting the Accelerate Biomedical Research Act. If you prefer to call your representatives you can find contact information here.

Action Alert: Adjunct Faculty Loan Forgiveness Act Introduced

On Thursday, Senator Richard Durbin introduced the Adjunct Faculty Loan Forgiveness Act which would allow part-time adjunct faculty to access the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLFP). The PSLFP provides educational loan forgiveness following 120 on time monthly payments made while employed full time in a public service job (which includes jobs at federal, state, and local governments and tax-exempt non-profits). Currently you must work at least 30 hrs a week for the entire year to have your payments qualify, which makes many part-time adjunct faculty ineligible. The new bill would allow adjunct faculty to be eligible for the PSLFP as long as they teach at least 1 course per year and do not hold a full-time non-public service job.

Actions you can take to support the Adjunct Faculty Loan Forgiveness Act:

As with any bill you support, calling or emailing your legislators is a good first step. This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, so it is especially important to contact your Senator if they are on that committee (list of members can be found here. No CA Senators are members of the committee).

If you want to learn more about the bill, you can join a call with Senator Durbin and the Adjunct Action Network on August 5th.