There are several legislative issues potentially affecting our children and families right now.  Please contact and urge your State Senator and Representative to let them know which you support or oppose!

NCHAM has some talking points and sample letters for you to consider when communicating with your legislators - some of this refers only to hearing aid legislation, some is more general   http://www.infanthearing.org/legislation/hearingaid.html  

Your Texas Senators http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/MnuSenate.aspx

Your Texas House of Representatives http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/MnuHouse.aspx

SB 270 Relating to newborn hearing screenings

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=SB270

Scheduled for public hearing before the Health & Human Services committee on 4/5/11

HB 2946 Relating to group health benefit plan coverage for loss or impairment of speech, language, or hearing.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=HB2946

Referred to Insurance Committee, waiting for public hearing to be scheduled

Closed Captioning legislation fact sheet http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/closedcaption.html 

A Boost to Consumers as Television Commercials Must Quiet Down
The CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation) Act was passed, which creates a standard for the volume of cable and broadcast commercials. The law eliminates obtrusively loud television commercials that aim to grab viewers’ attention by boosting the volume level over the surrounding programming.  Click here for more information.

This information is from the American Academy of Audiology

For more information visit http://www.audiology.org/advocacy/grnews/Pages/CongressPassesCalmAct.aspx

President Obama Signs Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2010
On Wednesday, December 22, President Obama signed the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Act of 2010 (H.R. 1246/S. 3199) into law. The bill, which was passed earlier this month by the Senate, was passed by the House on December 15. Click here for more information.

This information is from the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

For more information visit www.agbell.org

Congress Passes the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act (EHDI)
On Tuesday, December 7, 2010, the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act. Although this bill was passed in March of 2009 by the U.S. House, it was amended slightly in the Senate version and therefore required House reconsideration and was passed by that chamber today. This bill reauthorizes and increases federal funding for early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs and is awaiting signature by the President. Continue to visit the American Academy of Audiology’s Website for updates on the implementation of this reauthorization.

This information is from the American Academy of Audiology

For more information visit http://www.audiology.org/Pages/default.aspx.