Hearing Aid Tax Credit: Texas Rally Update
Friday, September 17, 2010
Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) urged a capacity crowd of 120 Texas Hearing Aid Tax
Credit supporters to help him work for passage of the bill (H.R. 1646) in
the final months of this Congressional session or in the new Congress that
will convene in January. The August 20 dinner event was hosted in Sugar
Land, TX by the state chapters of the Alexander Graham Bell Assn for the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) and the Hearing Loss Assn of America
(HLAA) with sponsorship by Hearing Industries Association (HIA).
Rep. Olson thanked the audience for all of their hard work in support of
H.R. 1646, and noted how important it is to have attracted 125 House
co-sponsors. He added that enacting legislation is “a very laborious
process” but that the bill’s wide bi-partisan support makes it easier to
attract the attention of House leadership when major tax legislation is
considered.
As part of the program, several local residents from the Sugar Land area
described the effectiveness of their hearing aids and emphasized the
difficulties related to the lack of financial assistance when hearing aids
are needed. They identified passage of the Hearing Aid Tax Credit as
critical to their ability to access the hearing assistance technology they
rely on in their daily lives. Local children also led the group in the
Pledge of Allegiance to start the program.
Speaking during the event, local resident Chanda Allen described how hearing
aids had enabled her son, who was diagnosed with hearing loss at birth, to
“develop speech and language abilities that are as good as a child born with
normal hearing.” She also emphasized how important it is to fit children
with hearing aids as early as possible after hearing loss is identified, and
added that the tax credit would be a big help, especially since hearing aids
are likely to be a recurring expense for her son.
Porter, TX resident, Donny Atwell, described how he developed a hearing loss
in his 40s having worked near loud machinery for most of his life. He
reported that “without my hearing aids, I would not be able to participate
with my family and friends at all,” and that he would really appreciate the
tax relief that H.R. 1646 would provide.
The event was the tenth in a series of grassroots initiatives in support of
the Hearing Aid Tax Credit sponsored by HIA in partnership with HLAA, AG
Bell, IHS and supported by ASHA, AAA and ADA. Other successful events have
been held in California, Michigan, Maryland, Nevada, Pennsylvania and
Wisconsin.
The Hearing Aid Tax Credit currently has 125 co-sponsors in the U.S. House
of Representatives, including 15 members of the Ways and Means Committee,
and 10 co-sponsors in the U.S. Senate.
Visit http://www.hearingaidtaxcredit.org to learn more.
Source:
http://www.healthyhearing.com/releases/47570-hearing-aid-tax-credit