Calling all Health Care Activists…
It’s Wednesday night and for Health Care Activists in PA that means phone banking!
It doesn’t seem like much at first, I’ll be honest. Give an hour or so, maybe two next week, calling supporters saying “can I connect you to your Congressperson?” To the supporter on the other end, it’s probably even more difficult to realize the scope of their impact. Its a common mind-set of people that haven’t been previously engaged in civic action.
In the office of the Congressperson you’re calling however, the potential of every call to sway a vote or action is understood. Staffers know that making a call like this means deviating from the normal routine. If one person is willing to do this they figure there must be many more in the district that feel the same way. When 100 people do, or 300 people do, they know the pressure is on!
Right now people from across the state are starting to call into the Activate system we use from their own homes (it’s super easy and if interested shoot an email to Antoinette at akraus@philaup.org) or going to locations like PUP to phone bank. By the end of the night, we will most likely have generated hundreds of calls directly into the offices of Members of Congress.
And there couldn’t be a more crucial time. We are on the verge of passing this reform legislation, but a lot of work remains. The House bill has better affordability provisions, which means less out of pocket expenses for every day Americans, it also requires that larger employers take responsibility to offer their employees health care (instead of counting on the government to do it for them) and it also gets rid of taxing people’s premium health care plans. These are the things that make the House bill the stronger and better bill.
This week Speaker Pelosi will have a conference call with House Members and next week, an in person meeting before entering into negotiations with the Senate. The latest strategy is to get as many House members as possible to tell her the above provisions are critical to the strength of the final bill and must be included. And what is the most efficient and effective way to put that pressure on the PA delegation as quickly as possible? Oh, you guessed it!
So, for tonight, we’ll stay here at the office making calls, other people will be doing it from their homes. For those at locations there will be prizes and food, for everyone involved there will be many three minute conversations ending with “Great, now I’m going to connect you.” And for Members of Congress there will be phones ringing off the hook from constituents who want quality, affordable health care NOW.
– Athena