Information from the Legislative Committee:

The 2008 General Assembly session is now upon us. VRA hopes to be more active during this session. VRA will be a contributing sponsor for the Employment and Community Services for Virginians with Disabilities Legislative Reception at the Old City Hall on January 23rd from 5.30pm to 8.00pm. VRA will have an exhibit table and several VRA officers and board members, along with legislative liaison, David Williams, will be in attendance. The Legislative Reception will cap a day of meetings with the legislators to discuss important issues impacting people with disabilities. We are urging VRA members to contact their legislators and arrange meetings with them during the day of January 23rd.

Another chance to become involved is by attending the Coalition Rally for Virginians with Disabilities. The annual Rally Day will be held on Monday, January 21, 2008 from 10am to 11am at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church on the corner of Ninth and Grace Streets. There is special satellite parking for individuals with disabilities. Following the rally, advocates will head to the General Assembly building for meetings with their elected officials. We urge VRA members to attend this rally and visit with their legislators for the remainder of the day.

On a federal level, NRA's annual Governmental Affairs conference will be held from March 9-11, 2008 in Alexandria, VA. The conference is again being held at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town Hotel. Various presenters such as Dr. Ralph Pacinelli and Kathy West-Evans will speak and many topics will be covered. The conference concludes on March 11th, 2008 with attendees visiting their Senators and Representatives at Capitol Hill. This is great opportunity to learn more about the many issues affecting individuals with disabilities and making our voices stronger. If you are interested in attending, please contact Ericka.Umbarger@thechoicegroup.com

In addition, VRA, and myself in particular, would like to ask for your assistance in completing one of our legislative projects. With the assistance of David Williams, I am in the process of creating a database that sorts individuals based their voting districts. When important issues arise and we need to reach key legislators, David Williams would be able to send an "action alert" out to the specific VRA constituents of that key legislator. The "action alert" would provide a brief summary of the situation and would ask the VRA member to contact their legislator, supplying a sample script along with legislator contact information. To finish the database and to be able to send out the action alerts, we need to have everyone's email address, in addition to a home address so we can determine your voting district. If you can please send me your email address, as well as your home address, this would be of a great benefit to VRA's legislative effort. If you do not feel comfortable sending me your home address, you can also look up your legislators on your own at http://legis.state.va.us/, click on the link at the top that says 'Who's My Legislator," input your home address, and then send me the names of your Senator and Delegate. You can reach me at ericka.umbarger@thechoicegroup.com or at (804) 334.2862.

There are many pertinent issues that will arise during this legislative session, especially as this is the first session after the Virginia Tech shootings. We each have the power to make a difference but we have to each make the commitment to get involved and get to know our legislators. Again, please feel free to contact me at the above email or telephone should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Ericka Umbarger, MSW
Legislative Chair