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June 3, 2011

This Week: Texas Legislative Session Ends, MS Priority Bills On Governor's Desk

The 82nd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature comes to an end; Governor immediately calls for a special session to complete unfinished business.

In January, lawmakers arrived in Austin to tackle a $27 billion state budget shortfall and other high-profile legislative items, including congressional redistricting and five emergency items as designated by the Governor.

With an unusually large freshman class—37 representatives and two senators—Texas MS Activists’ tackled this challenging legislative environment with passion and purpose.

Over 50 MS Activists came to Austin for the Public Policy Conference, they delivered public testimony during House Appropriation Committee hearings on the budget, and MS Activists shared their Stories in the House Insurance and the Senate State Affairs Committees. Hundreds of MS Activists took action from home by contacting their State Legislators via phone, email and Facebook!  Thank you to every single one of you for your commitment to MS Activism and to doing something about MS now!  Your National MS Society team is putting together a comprehensive overview of the legislative session. In the meantime, click here to see how far the bills we tracked made it in the legislative process.

Your National MS Society team is putting together a comprehensive overview of the legislative session. In the meantime, click here to see how far the bills we tracked made it in the legislative process.

Texas MS Activists send two insurance reform bills to the Governor's desk--join their efforts to sign these bills into law!

The Governor has until Sunday, June 19th to sign or veto bills passed during the regular legislative session. MS Activists' work is not yet done!

 
In 2006, David Rankin was diagnosed with MS. David’s insurance company used a “discretionary clause” in his contract to deny him long-term disability benefits. “Discretionary clauses” unfairly give insurance companies the authority to interpret the terms of their policies, effectively giving the companies the power to decide who gets paid and who doesn't. This isn’t right for any Texas family, and it is especially detrimental for people living with a chronic disease or a disability. Join David Rankin today in asking the Governor to sign HB 3017 and put an end to an unfair insurance practice.

As single mother of two with MS, Tracy Brinton knows how important it is for Texans living with MS to receive advance notice about changes to prescription drug coverage. Tracy traveled to Austin with fellow MS Activists this spring in support of legislation that will maintain prescription drug coverage for the entire length of an enrollee’s contract and require notification of critical changes prior to the contract renewal period. Join Tracy Brinton in asking the Governor to sign HB 1405—life with MS can be unpredictable, insurance contracts shouldn’t be!

If you haven’t already taken action, PLEASE send a note to the Governor letting him know how important these two pieces of legislation are to Texans with MS.

CLICK TO TAKE ACTION on HB 1405 and HB 3017.

What Now? 

The work to identify legislative priorities for 2013 begins today. As a person affected by MS, what other issues matter to you? Tell us here. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/26GX23F

For more information on the priority issues in this email, please visit our website.

Connect! Visit MS Activist Texas on Flickr to view photos of MS activists in action. You can also visit our Facebook and YouTube pages to share your experiences, photos, and videos.

Want to join our movement at the Texas Capitol? Your story can make a difference!
Contact your National MS Society Advocacy Team, Mireya Zapata, at (512) 340-2703 or mireya.zapata@nmss.org