NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness

|  |

|

Work Incentives Improvement Act Update: House And Senate Conferees Selected, Final Push Needed For WIIA Passage Before Adjournment ACTION REQUESTED

For Immediate Release, 2 Nov 99
Contact: Chris Marshall
703-524-7600

---

House and Senate leaders have appointed members to a conference committee that will be charged with reconciling differences between the rival House and Senate versions of the Work Incentives Improvement Act (WIIA). As the NAMI E-News reported earlier (October 20, Volume 00-51) the House passed its version of WIIA (HR 1180) on October 19 by an overwhelming majority 412-9. The Senate passed its version of WIIA (S 331) on June 16. With the naming of the conference committee, the congressional work on WIIA enters its final stage where members will be engaged in critical negotiations with the White House to ensure that the final bill is acceptable to the President. Members of the conference committee will also be going through the difficult process of finding "cost offsets" to pay for Medicare and Medicaid eligibility expansions that are critically important for people with disabilities (including severe mental illnesses) seeking to enter the workforce. Conferees will also be faced with the task of ironing out differences over the proposed "ticket to independence" program and important protections for beneficiaries subject to continuing disability reviews (CDRs).

ACTION REQUESTED

NAMI members and advocates are encouraged to contact members of the House-Senate conference committee (see list below) and urge them to finish their work on the Work Incentives Improvement Act before final adjournment for the year (congressional leaders hope to adjourn for 1999 before mid-November). Urge the conferees to fully fund the health care expansions in the Senate bill (S 331). If your senators or House members are not on the conference committee, call them and urge them to personally contact conferees and push for quick action on WIIA.

NAMI advocates are also urged to contact the White House to urge the President to work with the congressional leaders to find "cost offsets" for the Medicare and Medicaid provisions that all sides can agree to. The White House comment line can be reached by calling 202-456-1414. The President can be reached by e-mail at http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Mail/html/Mail_President.html

House Conferees:

Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX)
301 Cannon Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
District Office: Irving (972-556-2500)
Web: http://armey.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-7772
FAX: (202) 226-8100

Rep. Bill Archer (R-TX)
1236 Longworth Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
District Office: Houston (713-682-8828)
Web: http://www.house.gov/archer/
Phone: (202) 225-2571
Fax: (202) 225-4381

Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA)
2409 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
District Office: Richmond (804-771-2809)
E-mail: tom.bliley@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-2815
Fax: (202) 225-0011

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)
2328 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
District Office: Dearborn (313-846-1276)
E-mail: public.dingell@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-4071
Fax: (202) 226-0371

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
2354 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
District Office: New York (212-663-3900)
Web: http://www.house.gov/rangel
Phone: (202) 225-4365
Fax: (202) 225-0816

Senate Conferees:

Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)
487 Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
State Office: Jackson (601-965-4644)
E-mail: senatorlott@lott.senate.gov
Phone: (202) 224-6253
Fax: (202) 224-2262

Senator William V. Roth Jr. (R-DE)
104 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
State Office: Wilmington (302-573-6291)
E-mail: comments@roth.senate.gov
Phone: (202) 224-2441

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY)
464 Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
State Office: New York City (212-661-5150)
E-mail: senator@dpm.senate.gov
Phone: (202) 224-4451
Fax: (202) 228-0406

|  |

|

---

Join NAMI today!

When you become a member of NAMI, you become part of America's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness. And now you can join online.