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NEWSLETTER: We're counting on you.
February 26, 2020 by Kate Audette, Director of Government Affairs
This February edition of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Legislative Action Network (LAN) is devoted to making your vote, your response and your voice count in 2020. Below are three easy examples of why you count and how you can make a difference.
 
Make Your Vote Count
 
The presidential primary election day is next week in Massachusetts on Tuesday March 3. Polls will be open around the state from 7am until 8pm.  Early voting is available this week, February 24-28 in all city and towns.  Check your local town hall office for details.  Residents of the City of Boston can click here for more information on early voting.
 
No matter where you live in Massachusetts, know before you go, find your polling location and confirm your voter registration status and even get a sneak peak of your ballot by clicking here.
 
Don’t forget to save the date, the Massachusetts state primary will be held Tuesday September 1 and the general election will be held this year on Tuesday November 3, with early voting running from September 19 – 30.
 
 
Make Your Response Count
 
 
Once every ten years the federal government is required to complete a Census count, that is a count of every person living in the United States during the months of March/April.  Completing the Census is safe, easy and important and it will determine federal funding for hospitals like Dana-Farber and health care clinics like the Whittier Street Health Center for the next decade.  The data is also critically important to ensuring accurate information that be can be used in research, like the type conducted at Dana-Farber. The Census count is also used to designate representation the United States House of Representatives.
 
Be on the lookout as 2020 Census documents begin to arrive in mailboxes the second week of March.  Completing the Census is quick and easy and can be done online, via phone or by completing the paper form and dropping it in a mailbox. It takes ten minutes or less to make your response count and help determine federal funding and representation for the next ten years.
 
 
Make Your Voice Count
 

It’s that time of year again, in addition to election season and the Census, state legislators are hard at work drafting the state budget for next fiscal year. One of the top state budget priorities of the Legislative Advocacy Network (LAN) is funding support for the Pediatric Palliative Care Program (State Budget Line Item 4590-1503).  This line item funds community based pediatric palliative care services for children with life threatening and life limiting illnesses, including childhood cancer.  These services, which are not the same as hospice, address the unmet needs of these children and include, but are not limited to, pain management, nursing, respite care and bereavement care if needed.
 
You can make your voice count by reaching out to your member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and asking them to provide the pediatric palliative care program with an additional $1.2 million in funding to ensure all children who qualify for these services receive them, without having to be placed on a wait list.
 
 
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