APA Advocacy Activities and Resources

SPSP asked Craig Fisher, the Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer at the American Psychological Association, how APA has been responding to the current political administration and budget. He provided the below resources and information, which we thought would be of interest to SPSP members:

Resources to Advocate for Science:

• Science Advocacy blog post: After the March: Taking the next steps to advocate for science (May 17, 2017)
• Webcast of a recent advocacy training (which was streamed live on April 21, 2017): “Beyond the March: Advocating for Psychological Science”

Recent health care legislation and budget-related advocacy:

• A recent press release related to the passage of AHCA: APA Voices Disappointment Upon Passage of American Health Care Act (May 4, 2017)
• A press release related to AHCA (distributed prior to its passage): APA Voices Opposition To Revised American Health Care Act (April 28, 2017)
• A statement on APA opposition to the American Health Care Act (with a letter sent to Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi)
• APA also expressed concerns about the President’s proposed FY2018 budget. You can view a related budget blog post.
   

APA Science Directorate General Resources:

• The APA Science Government Relations 2016 Annual Report highlights the activities of the government relations team from last year
• The APA Psychological Science Agenda is the monthly e-newsletter of the Science Directorate
• The APA Science Advocacy Blog covers the budget, appropriations, and other issues relevant to federal funding for psychological science
• The APA Science Advocacy Toolkit provides information on advocacy for psychological science
• The Federal Action Network provides federal updates and action alerts
• The APA Science Directorate is on Twitter at @APAScience

We hope some of these resources will prove informative and helpful to you.