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Recent News...

...January 9, 2012 - Governor Christie signs MS Task Force Bill
Governor Christie has signed the MS Task Force bill today, thanks to all of your efforts pushing the bill along.

Under the legislation, the task force will develop strategies to identify and address the unmet needs of individuals with MS in order to provide them with greater access to various treatments and other therapeutic options. The task force will focus on issues impacting the productivity and independence of individuals with MS. It will also review issues impacting emotional, social and vocational challenges of persons with MS.

...December 27, 2011 - Join us at the Public Policy Conference in our nation's capital
The 2012 Public Policy Conference, slated for March 5-7 at our nation’s capital, promises to be an exciting, energizing and engaging three days, and you're invited to join us!

We're people living with MS or family members of people with MS to represent our chapter in Washington, D.C. this year. We will pay 100% of the cost of the trip. Previous advocacy experience isn't required; all that's necessary is a willingness to tell your story and a desire to make a difference for people living with MS.

We'll be selecting this year's participants through an essay contest. Click here to fill out the online application. A committee of volunteer activists, board members and staff will be reviewing the essays. The deadline to apply is January 21.

While we can't pay for everyone, we would love to have as many people as possible come along. If you'd like to come and pay for your trip, or if you have any questions, please contact Karen Mariner at karen.mariner@nmss.org or 215-271-1500.
 

...October 31, 2011 - We're on Facebook
The New Jersey Chapter Advocacy Network (NJCAN) is now on Facebook. Click here to like us today. We'll keep you up to date on every bill, vote, etc. that's important to the New Jersey MS community and the National MS Society.
 

...September 19, 2011 - New rule strengthens protections for Americans with disabilities at rail stations

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that individuals with disabilities will have greater access to intercity, commuter and high-speed train travel as a result of a new rule requiring new station platform construction or significant renovation to enable those with disabilities to get on and off any car on a train.

“This will help give passengers with disabilities better access to rail travel across the country,” said LaHood. “By putting this protection in place, passengers with disabilities will be able to get on and off any accessible car that is available to passengers at a new or altered station platform.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is amending its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations to require intercity, commuter and high-speed passenger railroads to ensure, at new and significantly renovated station platforms, that passengers with disabilities can get on and off any accessible car of the train. Passenger railroads must provide level-entry boarding at new or altered stations in which no track passing through the station and adjacent to platforms is shared with existing freight rail operations.

Click here to learn more (pdf).
 

...May 24, 2011 - Madden Bill creating N.J. MS task force passes in Senate, heads to Assembly
Legislation sponsored by Senator Fred Madden (D-Gloucester, Camden) that would establish the New Jersey Multiple Sclerosis Task Force in the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has cleared the Senate with a 39-0 vote.

"With so much still unknown about multiple sclerosis, those who suffer from it face constant challenges everyday. We have a responsibility to help them meet those challenges through whatever aid and assistance we can provide. The Task Force is a common sense, cost free way to begin providing that assistance," said Madden last week before the bill passed the Senate committee vote.

The legislation now heads to the Assembly for a vote.
 

...February 23, 2011 - Join us in Trenton for New Jersey Lobby Day

...August 23, 2010 - Feeling overwhelmed by prescription drug costs?
MS places a heavy burden not only on the finances of people affected, but also on their quality of life. The disease's costly therapies often force people to live from paycheck to paycheck and make impossible choices among the things they want and need. If this sounds familiar, Congress needs to hear from you.

The National MS Society needs your support to pass the Affordable Access to Prescription Medications Act, a bill designed to give some financial relief for people living with MS.

This legislation would cap monthly prescription drug costs; allow exemptions for fourth-tier specialty drugs, require Medicare to study the impact of drug cost-sharing and potentially lower co-payments for up to 10% of Americans with the highest prescription costs.

Contact your federal legislators to tell them your story and that it is necessary to pass the Affordable Access to Prescription Medications Act. Legislators need to realize that the out-of-pocket expenses for fourth-tier drugs are a burden to the hundreds of thousands of people living with MS every day.
 

...June 22, 2010 - New Jersey Lobby Day is chapter's biggest ever!
The 2010 MS Lobby Day in Trenton brought together 80 MS activists and 10 legislators for our chapter’s most successful advocacy event ever.

The activists participated in Q&A with the legislators and learned how activism makes a difference: the recent construction of affordable housing in central New Jersey for people living with MS, made possible by the NJ CAN’s advocacy efforts.

Legislators pledged to look into the copayment structure for biologic drugs such as disease modifying therapies for MS and to establish a statewide task force to examine other ways they can help make life better for their constituents living with MS. Click here to view photos from the event.

This event showed our organization’s strength in numbers, and we’ll need even more participation to further develop these new relationships. Click here to learn more about becoming an MS activist.
 

...June 17, 2010 - New DOT rule extends disability protections to passenger ships and boats
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced the first federal rule to specifically provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protections to people with disabilities who travel on boats and ships. The action comes as the 20th anniversary of the ADA approaches on July 26.

“This Administration is committed to protecting the rights of passengers with disabilities in all modes of transportation,” said Secretary LaHood. “This rule will ensure fair treatment for people with disabilities who travel by ship or boat.”

The rule applies to two categories of vessels: vessels operated by public entities, such as public ferry systems, and vessels operated by private entities primarily engaged in the business of transporting people, such as cruise ships.

The rule will ensure that vessel operators’ policies do not discriminate against passengers with disabilities. Under the rule, vessel operators cannot charge extra for accessibility-related services to passengers, cannot require passengers to furnish their own attendants and cannot deny access to passengers based on disability. Vessel operators will have to provide information to passengers about the accessibility of their facilities and services and make a knowledgeable person available to resolve accessibility concerns.

This rule does not establish physical accessibility standards for new construction or alteration of vessels. The Access Board, an independent agency, is currently developing proposed accessibility guidelines that the Department would adopt in a subsequent rulemaking.

Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations will cover a third category of vessels not covered by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) rules – those operated by private entities not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people, such as fishing charters and dinner cruise boats.

The new rule will become effective 120 days after it is published. There will be a 90-day comment period concerning three issues: whether vessel operators should be required to allow passengers with disabilities to bring emotional support animals on board, requirements operators must follow concerning the use of mobility aids and the relationship of DOT and DOJ disability rules.
 

...May 3, 2010 - Legislators come out to Walk MS
Walk MS 2010 drew crowds of thousands of walkers and volunteers over the past two weekends. It also drew local legislators to come speak. Senators and congress people came out to let our participants know that we all need to speak up for change and that they are always open to suggestions and concerns from their constituents.

  
Left: Senator Fred Madden with National MS Society staff member Katie Bolton at the Washington Township Walk MS event on April 25.
Right: Senator Haines braves the fog and rain at Medford Lakes on April 25.  
 

...March 16, 2010 - Help continue to fund MS research through the CDMRP
We need your help. We are asking Congress to support a $15 million appropriation to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)for multiple sclerosis. This letter to members of the Appropriations Defense Sub-Committee asks for funding of MS research through the FY 2011 Defense Appropriations bill. For the more than 20,000 veterans diagnosed with MS and more than 400,000 people living with the disease nationwide, this funding will provide the necessary resources so researchers can explore potential environmental risks, new treatments and a cure.

What we need from you:
Call your representative and ask them to sign on to the letter. To date, the following representatives have signed on: Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz and Congressman Joe Sestak. We need as many representatives as possible to sign the letter! You can call the capital switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representative.

If you do not know who your representative is, visit congress.org.
 

...March 4, 2010 - Woman opens doors for accessibility awareness
Jackie Jackson is single-handedly responsible for putting elected officials across North Jersey in wheelchairs.

Her accessibility tours of government buildings have raised public awareness of the obstacles people with disabilities face on a daily basis and encouraged others living with MS to become change agents in their own communities.

She spoke with elected officials and other leaders in town such as the mayor, police chief and city council.

“I challenged them to spend a day in a wheelchair and ‘roll with me,’” she said.

The reception from the participants was positive and Jackson notes that “they were all great team players and very sensitive to the idea that people with disabilities have to struggle within their communities.”

Not only have elected officials welcomed the accessibility tours, but they have been well attended by the media, local leaders and the public.

“Everyone who has been with me on the accessibility tours is amazed at what they find and the struggles that people with disabilities face on a daily basis,” she said. “For the most part, it is an eye opened for everyone and they appear to be more sensitive about disability issues.”

Jackson has already conducted three tours in Franklin Township, South Plainfield and Edison Township. She will be training the Greater Delaware Valley Chapter’s government relations committee to start accessibility tours in South Jersey, as well.

She encourages people with and without disabilities to become advocates and get involved.

“It is my personal goal to empower others living with MS to become their own self-advocates,” she said. “I believe that making social changes is my niche in life, and I will continue to be a champion for the cause.”

If you’d like to learn how to bring a wheelchair accessibility tour to your town, contact Karen Mariner at karen.mariner@pae.nmss.org or 1-800-548-4611.

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