Bazelon Center Legislative Update Aug 20, 2002

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Bazelon Center Legislative Update Aug 20, 2002
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Legislative Update

Dear Friend,

With Congress out for its August recess and fall election races heating up, advocates have a good opportunity to highlight the importance of mental health issues to lawmakers. Few legislative days remain before final adjournment and a number of bills affecting children and adults with severe mental disabilities are likely to be debated:

* Spending on Mental Health Services

House appropriators are expected to begin work on their version of the bill that funds the Center for Mental Health Services. With lawmakers facing tight budget constraints and the cuts proposed in the President's budget, members will be tempted to cut corners on funding for mental health, exacerbating a deepening crisis in the public mental health system.

* Privacy

New legislation would require states to develop lists of people who have been committed to a mental hospital. The bill is designed to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a computerized system managed by the FBI which searches various records to find whether an individual is prohibited by law from purchasing a gun. Advocates for the rights of people with mental illnesses fear that the overly broad definitions used in the law and its lack of privacy protections may lead to violation of the rights of people with mental disabilities.

* Insurance Discrimination

With the Senate likely to bring its committee-passed bill to the floor in September, the House leadership must hear about the need to bring a full mental health parity bill up for a vote from grassroots activists who oppose discrimination by private! insurers.

Take Action Now!

Your Senators and Representatives need to hear from you on these important issues. To learn what you can do, visit: http://www.bazelon.org/takeaction/alerts/8-20-02update.htm

Your Support is Important

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is the leading legal advocacy organization representing people with mental illnesses and mental retardation. For more information on the Bazelon Center, please visit www.bazelon.org.

Your tax-deductible contribution helps us advocate for the civil rights and human dignity of people with mental disabilities. Make an online donation now. Point your web browser to:

http://www.bazelon.org/donatesafely.html

Feel free forward our alerts as long as you give credit with a link to our page: http://www.bazelon.org

Opinions expressed in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of NAMI Santa Cruz County, NAMI California or any affiliated organizations. We attempt to present a balanced perspective on issues by presenting multiple viewpoints.

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