The first half of the Wisconsin legislative session will be ending soon, and we are pushing our Wisconsin SCI Research Bill towards the finish line - but we need your help, right now!
Thanks to our capitol trip at the beginning of this month, our Bill is now being authored and championed in the Assembly by Rep. Paul Tittl. However, we need a Senate coauthor.
We have a good chance of getting this Bill passed, IF - and only if - we can persuade a Republican Senator to coauthor our Bill. Right now, Senators John Jagler and Devin LeMahieu are our most promising options.
And that’s where you come in: we need you to call or write them and ask that they join Rep. Tittl to coauthor this bill.
When you call or write, you can say something like this:
“Hi, my name is ____ ______, and I [have a spinal cord injury / am family/friend of someone with a spinal cord injury]. Please join Rep. Tittl as a coauthor for our Wisconsin SCI Research Grant Bill. This is a smart, efficient bill that would:
- Keep the funds in Wisconsin
- Allow SCI Community members like me to help decide what research gets funded
- Cap indirect costs at 8% (ie no bloated admin costs)
This model of funding has worked well in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Washington state by getting research out of the lab and into people. Please join Rep. Tittl as a coauthor so we can start helping the spinal cord injury community in Wisconsin. Thank you!”
Without a Senate coauthor, our Bill doesn’t have a chance of getting heard this session. Our Wisconsin CAN advocates have been working too long and hard to let this chance slip away. Please call or write today!
Once you’re done calling Senators Jagler and LeMahieu, please send a “Thank You” message to Rep. Paul Tittl, expressing your gratitude for his willingness to author our Bill (Email: Rep.Tittl@legis.wisconsin.gov | Phone: 608-266-0315).
Lastly, please contact Gov. Tony Evers and ask him to support the WI SCI Research Program through higher education funding (this is the mechanism that appeals to Jagler).
Tony Evers’ Contact:
PS - In case you were wondering, the structure of our Bill hasn’t changed. It would appropriate $3 million to fund SCI research in Wisconsin, seeking to restore functions for people living with paralysis from Spinal Cord Injury or Disease through biologic, pharmacologic, medical device and rehabilitative methodologies. It would also establish an advisory board made up of scientists, clinicians and members of the SCI community (individuals with SCI, SCI family members and veterans with SCI). Finally, it would cap administrative costs at 8% - meaning the majority of funds would go directly to SCI research.
