February 18, 2025
$5M SCI Bill Introduced in Wisconsin!
Jake Beckstrom
I am excited to announce that our $5M SCI Research Grant bill is being introduced this week in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate by our legislative champions, Representative Paul Tittl and Senator Van Wanggaard! (You can read a preliminary draft of the bill here).
Matthew and Jason are en route to the Capitol today to join our Wisconsin CAN advocates for three days of legislator meetings. We have a 10-day window to get as many legislators to co-sponsor our bill as possible, so that is our main objective between now and this Thursday.
Meanwhile, I’ll be coordinating efforts from my home office via phone and email, helping to confirm more meetings and adding feedback while our advocates’ wheels are on the ground at the Capitol.
Above are many of our Wisconsin CAN Advocates, some of whom will be at the Capitol this week!
As Jason mentioned in his article last month, we have continued to build important alliances with key groups, including the American Legion and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. And we continue to work with Governor Evers who is also recommending that our bill be included in his proposed budget.
Right now, the most important thing you can do to support our work this week is:
- Contact any family or friends you have living in Wisconsin, and ask them to call or email their state legislators to co-sponsor our bill.
- If YOU live in Wisconsin then please call or email your legislators and ask them to become co-sponsors of our SCI Research Grant bill! (Here is a link for Wisconsin residents to find out who represents them.)
Click on this map to find your Wisconsin legislator.
We don’t want to overwhelm the legislature with calls and emails from everywhere just yet (don’t worry, that time will come soon). Right now, having our network of friends and family who live in Wisconsin tell their own legislators to support this bill will help us a great deal.
Help us make the most of our SCI Research Grant bill getting introduced by calling or emailing your Wisconsin legislators (Assemblyperson and Senator) OR telling your friends and family in Wisconsin to do the same.
Feel free to use this simple script as a template for your call or email. It will take less than five minutes:
Dear Senator/Representative [first name/last name],
My name is ____ ______, and I [have a spinal cord injury / am family/friend of someone with a spinal cord injury].
Please co-sponsor our Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research Grant bill that is being introduced in the Assembly and Senate this week. Give us a chance to profoundly and positively affect the lives of people in Wisconsin living with SCI.
The SCI community is counting on you - thank you in advance!
Your continued support is critical to our success - and it helps keep us motivated when we hear a legislator’s office has received calls and emails of support before we get there. Thanks for staying in this fight and having our backs. We’ll be updating you soon on how this week went and next steps to get ready for.
Join us!
