HIA's bi-annual Hearing on the Hill (HOTH) made a big impact on Capitol Hill, with HIA members and allied organizations coming together to promote better hearing health and the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act.
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) accepted HIA's first "Senator of the Year" Award during the opening luncheon and announced his introduction earlier in the day of S. 1060, the Senate version of the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act. Coleman noted that this bill will enable many of the millions of individuals who currently are not able to afford treatment to obtain hearing aids to treat their hearing loss. He added that "the ability to hear should not be dependent on the size of a person's bank account." HIA immediate past Chairman Jerry Ruzicka, Starkey Labs, made the official presentation of the HIA "Senator of the Year" Award.
Throughout the afternoon, over 50 Congressional staff and visitors to the Cannon Caucus Room were able to get their hearing checked and view hearing aid technologies. HIA members were busy during the day, meeting with Congressional Members and staff to promote the hearing aid tax credit.
Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), co-chair of the Congressional Hearing Health Caucus (CHHC), spoke briefly at the reception and complimented the efforts of all in attendance who were working to promote hearing health. She is an original co-sponsor of H.R. 414.
HIA would also like to extend its thanks to Patrick Holkins (SHHH), Gail Lim (Pediatrix Medical Group) and Sergei Kochkin (BHI), for speaking so eloquently at the luncheon. We would also like to thank those companies and attendees who donated equipment and helped to perform the hearing screenings at HOTH, with an extra special thanks to Al King of Biocoustics, who once again donated the sound booths used for the hearing screenings.
Due to an extremely busy House schedule, Representative Jim Ryun (R-KS) was unable to attend the HOTH reception. HIA is making arrangements to formally present his "Representative of the Year" Award in recognition of his dedication to hearing health and his sponsorship of H.R. 414, the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act.
Contacts Count
HIA member meetings held at Hearing on the Hill did gain some immediate Congressional support. Here are the members of Congress who signed on as a result of these meetings:
- Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) - Siemens, Oticon
- Representative Jim Ramstad (R-MN) - Starkey Labs, GN ReSound, Sonion U.S., Unitron Hearing
- Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) - Siemens, Oticon
- Representative Mark Green (R-WI) - Rayovac
He joins six other bipartisan co-sponsors including Norm Coleman, R-MN; Jon Corzine, D-NJ; Mark Dayton, D-MN; Tom Harkin, D-IA; Gordon Smith, R-OR; and Olympia Snowe, R-ME. Smith and Snowe also serve on the Senate Finance Committee.
What's Next for the Hearing Aid Tax Credit?
HIA is currently following up with all Congressional offices contacted by member meetings, but we still need your active participation. Get your company employees actively involved in this effort. Download the new S. 1060 and H.R. 414 hearing aid tax credit petitions at www.hearing.org/public/. Mail the tax credit petitions to HIA Headquarters and we will deliver them for you to the Congressional offices and let you know the outcome. Important: Make sure that you drop a note to staffers with whom you met with at Hearing on the Hill.
Tax Credit Progress Analysis
H.R. 414 now has 57 co-sponsors including three members of the key House Ways and Means Committee, and S. 1060 has 7 co-sponsors including three members of the key Senate Finance Committee.
HIA and allied organizations will continue to work with Senator Coleman, Representative Ryun and others to increase co-sponsorship of the bills. As noted by House Speaker Dennis Hastert's staff in a meeting with HIA members, increasing the number of co-sponsors greatly increases the chances that the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit will be considered favorably when Congress considers tax legislation during the 109th Congress. Given the size of the federal deficit, significant tax measures such as this require a tremendous amount of support to demonstrate their worthiness, so each and every co-sponsor counts.
Our efforts during the remainder of the 109th Congress (2005-2006) will be to increase co-sponsorship of both bills and to urge key Senators and Representatives to include the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit in any tax bill that has a chance for passage.
Hearing Aid Samples Needed:
HIA members are invited to donate sample hearing aids for use by the HIA staff to show Senate and House staff the latest adaptations in hearing aid technology. They can be non-working samples. Please send to the attention of Bryan Vickers at the HIA office.
