ASHA has now transitioned to the new governance structure which has an expanded Board of Directors and two advisory councils, an SLP Advisory Council and an Audiology Advisory Council. This year is the transition year and in 2009, there will be two SLP Advisory Council members and two Audiology Council members from each state to serve a 3-year term. The role of the Councils is to be advisory to the ASHA Board of Directors.

Be sure and watch for your electronic ballot from ASHA so you can vote. Each discipline will elect their own Advisory Council members. Oregon is fortunate to have two excellent candidates for both Council positions. For SLP Advisory Council, Janet Wagner and Ashley Northam are on the ballot and for the Audiology Advisory Council, Evan (Butch) Evans and Heather Durham are on the ballot.

John Hanlan and Ellen Reuler attended the ASHA Advisory Council meeting in March. We met with several of our state legislators to lobby for various issues related to our fields. ASHA does an excellent job of briefing members and providing materials to give to legislators. The issues that we lobbied for included the following:

• Allowing SLPs to enroll in the Medicare program as private practitioners
• Reauthorization of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) grant program
• Supporting an increase of $2 billion in 2009 for IDEA Part B Grants to States
• Co-sponsoring the Medicare Hearing Health Care Enhancement Act to allow for direct access to audiologists for Medicare patients
• Co-sponsoring the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act which would provide a tax credit of up to $500.00 per hearing aid for dependent children or persons over 55 years

The SLP Advisory Council also discussed and prioritized the following issues in our field:

• Shortages
• Academic and Clinical Preparation
• Marketing
• Workload/Caseload
• Highest Quality Provider
• Ph.D. Shortage
• Evidenced Based Practice
• Salaries
• Reimbursement
• Encroachment/Scope of Practice
• Recruitment and Retention