National Dental Student Lobby Day offers a unique opportunity for dental students to make a difference! Dental students come to storm Capitol Hill and learn how to leverage their dentistry interests and influence legislators. Attendees learn about issues important to dentistry and then take action in meetings with members of Congress from their own home districts. Plan to meet with politicians, join other concerned dental students from throughout the nation, and help send a powerful message about issues critical to you and your colleagues next year. Lobby Day is organized by ASDA and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). National Dental Student Lobby Day 2010 will take place Monday, February 8 and Tuesday, February 9.
Registration information and form
Agenda Draft 1/28
Appointments
Don't know who your members of Congress are or how to contact them? Go to http://house.gov and http://senate.gov to get their current contact information.
Need information on scheduling appointments? Click here. Once you have scheduled your appointments, add them to the appointments page.
Click here for a list of congressional staff roles. Click here for useful information about Congress, Congressional meetings, as well as a glossary.
Issues
The 2 issues ASDA and ADEA have agreed to lobby on are Student Loan Interest Deduction and H.R. 855 and S. 616 - Enhancing Safety in Medicine Utilizing Leading Advanced Simulation Technologies to Improve Outcomes Now Act of 2009. Please review the "leave behind" documents for background information.
SLID Leave Behind
H.R. 855 and S. 616 Leave Behind
ADA Resource
Dental Student Loan Repayment Programs & Resources This new resource was developed by the ADA to help dental students and new dentists explore repayment program options. The listing includes national programs, state programs, and a resources section.
2009 Lobbying Issues
May 2009 Update
The Meth Mouth Prevention and Community Recovery Act (S. 450/H.R. 1671), a bill to understand and address the oral health problems associated with methamphetamine use, was introduced on February 13 in the Senate by Max Baucus (MT). It was introduced in the House on March 23 by Rick Larsen (WA). It currently has 11 cosponsors in the Senate and 22 cosponsors in the House. Visit http://thomas.loc.gov for updated information on the bills.
Since Lobby Day, Congress has enacted two pieces of legislation that fund the National Health Service Corps. They are the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (also known as the economic stimulus package) and the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Omnibus Appropriations legislation. The economic stimulus package was signed into law on February 19, 2009. It provides $300 million to the NHSC. The National Health Service Corps is now spending this money by hiring 4000 new health professionals by the end of September 2010. Visit www.nhscjobs.hrsa.gov to search for position openings. The NHSC offers scholarships to health professional students as well as loan repayment programs following graduation.
The Omnibus bill, which was signed into law on March 11, 2009, funded the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) at funded at $135 million. This was an increase of $11.5 million (9.3 percent) over FY 2008. Now that FY 2009 is finished, Congress is working on funding levels for FY 2010. Through lobbying efforts of the students on lobby day, an amendment was added to the Senate version of the 2010 budget bill, which would have fund the National Health Service Corps at $235 million. Unfortunately, the provision was taken out during the conference between the House and Senate. Lobbying efforts are continuing to fund the National Health Service Corps at $235 million for FY 2010.