NEDPAC Mission
To enhance the effectiveness of NDA's grassroots lobbying by mobilizing dentists, as well as the general public. To gain the support of state legislators and assisting legislative candidates, supportive of pro oral health legislation, by collecting voluntary political contributions.
The Need for NEDPAC
If you removed ADPAC and NEDPAC from the political arena, dentistry and our patients would feel the effects. There are forces attacking dentistry in the name of access to care and are appearing in the political process. The NDA has a very engaged Legislative Council, but the battle cannot be carried by one Council. NDA members must be engaged in the grassroots effort to educate and support our Legislature, specifically the Health and Human Services Committee, City Councils, local Health Departments, etc..
Be Engaged in Grassroots Action - Click Here To Find Your Senator
Many of the issues on national and state legislative agendas are important to the future of dentistry and the quality of care we will be able to provide our patients. Regardless of how our nation's policies relating to such issues as health system reform, managed care and regulatory reform are decided, they will have a decided impact on dentistry.
The profession of dentistry can no longer rely solely on traditional lobbying techniques to ensure that its voice is heard in the political debate on the issues of concern. An essential part of this new strategy in dentistry's approach to government includes the direct role individual dentists and their families are playing in the ADA and NDA Grassroots Action Team network. For many dentists, grassroots political involvement is a completely new way to participate in the political and legislative process. The characteristics of the current political environment for dentistry make grassroots involvement an absolute necessity.
Some Win, Others Lose
Every time Congress or the Nebraska State Legislature makes a policy decision, some groups in society will win and others will lose. No matter what the legislation may be, the nature of our political system produces winners and losers. Even in the face of compromise, a natural by-product of our system, there are winners and losers.
We must recognize that, when our profession becomes the subject of legislation, we also will either win, or we will lose. How much is won or lost depends, in part, on our effective grassroots political participation.
