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2009-2010 Report of the AAPD Political Action Committee Steering Committee

Lewis A. Kay, Chair District Representatives: Thomas G. Ison, Board Liaison Reneida E. Reyes (I) Richard P. Mungo, Vice Chair Cavan M. Brunsden (II) John S. Rutkauskas, Treasurer David K. Curtis (III) K. Jean Beauchamp, Assistant Treasurer Neophytos “Ned” Savide (IV) C. Scott Litch, Secretary Robert L. Delarosa (V) Ray E. Stewart (VI)

March 2010 Meeting The AAPD PAC Steering Committee met on March 26, 2010 in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with the AAPD Lobby Day activities. In addition to the Steering Committee members and AAPD staff, C. Michael Gilliland, Esq., of Hogan and Hartson, members of the Council on Government Affairs and the AAPD PAC Advisory Board also participated in the meeting.

This was an excellent meeting with some interesting dialog concerning the 2010 Congressional races. These will be crucial elections for both parties. As in any mid-term election, the majority party is expected to lose some seats. In making our decisions for PAC donations for these races, we looked at key committees, especially committee chairs, and we placed a good deal of emphasis on who has helped our issues. We also looked at reports from our Lobby Day meetings with Congressional leaders to see who we might be going to help us in the future. The results of our discussion are appended to this report.

We continue to welcome input from our members. If you feel your U.S. Senator or Congressperson is someone who can be counted on to support our issues, let Scott Litch in the AAPD Headquarters Office know about it before the election. You can reach him by e-mail at [email protected].

Hosting a Fund Raiser For 2009-10 the AAPD PAC has focused on making contributions to key supporters earlier in the campaign cycle, and also assisting our members in setting up fund-raisers in their homes or offices. This allows for an excellent opportunity to further educate politicians concerning pediatric oral health care. Here are some recent examples:

o On August 28, 2009 the AAPD PAC co-hosted an event for Congressional candidate Paul Gosar, DDS, a Republican candidate in ’s 1st district. This event was organized and hosted by pediatric dentist Terry Ramsey at his

AAPD Political Action Committee Steering Committee, 2009-2010

Scottsdale office. Dr. Gosar’s candidacy was announced at the ADA’s Washington Leadership Conference in May 2009.

o On November 9, 2009, AAPD Council on Government Affairs Chair Warren Brill hosted a small “meet and greet” while presenting an AAPD PAC check to Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-7th MD). Also attending this event were the AAPD Child Advocate (Jim Crall), chair of pediatric dentistry at the Univeristy of Maryland (Norm Tinanoff), the president –elect of the Maryland Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (Deven Shroff), and government relations vice president for the University of Maryland Baltimore (Barbara Klein). Congressman Cummings received the AAPD PAC Legislator of the Year award in 2009.

o On December 6, 2009, I hosted a fund-raiser in my home for Congressman (D-3rd NJ). John is a first term Democrat who will face a tough re- election campaign. He has been a strong advocate for oral health issues, including introducing legislation to exempt dental offices from the “red flag” creditor regulations.

o On February 1, 2010, Drs. Joel Berg and John Liu hosted a reception at Joel’s house for Congressman (D-2nd WA). Before entering Congress, Mr. Larsen was a senior executive with the Washington State Dental Association.

o On March 25, 2010 in Washington D.C., the AAPD PAC co-hosted a fund- raising breakfast for Congressman Michael Burgess, M.D. (R-26th Texas). Dr. Burgess spent three decades practicing medicine as an Ob/Gyn in North Texas, before being elected to Congress in 2002. Our co-hosts included the AAOMS-PAC, AAO-PAC, and AD-PAC.

Raising Money for the AAPD PAC The Steering Committee district representatives will be making PAC contribution appeals at various state and district meetings throughout the year as well as at the District Caucuses at the May 2010 Annual Session in .

PDT (Pediatric Dentistry Today) magazine has included regular “PAC Corner” articles citing the numerous benefits and importance of member PAC contributions, and the ongoing PAC Steering Committee’s goal to increase our membership contributions to a minimum of 50% of our eligible members.

As in previous years, the six district representatives on the PAC Steering Committee will be communicating in June, by letter, to the members in their respective districts in advance of the AAPD annual dues billing notices. These letters will call attention to the need to increase our fund-raising efforts in order to continue to have appropriate funds to support deserving congressional members and candidates. Thanks to your generous past support, as we entered as of March 2010 we had approximately $244,000 in “hard”

AAPD Political Action Committee Steering Committee, 2009-2010 dollars to donate to candidates. At the March meeting, we made plans to disburse almost $180,000, leaving a “rainy day” fund of only $64,000. We also have approximately $195,000 in “soft” dollars, which goes towards PAC administrative expenses as well as related advocacy activities such as housing for lobby day attendees, grass roots software, and travel to attend political fund-raisers.

The Difference Between Hard and Soft Dollars In the jargon of Political Action Committees, “hard” money donations are those that can be used to support candidates. These donations come from contributors’ personal funds.

“Soft” money is a donation from a corporate source. In the AAPD, that would be a check written on your practice account. Soft money supports the administrative functions of the PAC as indicated above, which would otherwise come from the AAPD operating budget (supported by your dues).

The PAC Steering Committee would like to increase the ratio of hard money to soft money donations to our PAC, and we encourage AAPD members to donate to the AAPD PAC from their personal funds.

Thank you It has been a pleasure for me to Chair the PAC Steering Committee this past year and I sincerely appreciate the excellent support of the Steering Committee members, the Board of Trustees, and the excellent Headquarters staff, particularly Scott Litch and Margaret Bjerklie, for their assistance. Our success in advocacy would not be possible without the dedicated efforts of Congressional Liaison Heber Simmons Jr. and Child Advocate Jim Crall. I also would like to thank our Chief Executive Officer (and PAC Treasurer), Dr. John Rutkauskas. I am confident that the AAPD PAC will continue to make a difference in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the nation’s children.

Lewis A. Kay, Chair

AAPD Political Action Committee Steering Committee, 2009-2010

2010 candidate contribution decisions

Senate candidates for election or re-election in 2010

Note that AAPD PAC has maxed out this election cycle to Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.)

Dollar Member or Challenger Party State Amount $ Congressman Roy Blunt R Missouri 5,000 Senator Richard Burr R North Carolina 5,000 Senator Chuck Grassley R 5,000 Senator Dan Inouye D Hawaii 5,000 Senator Johnny Isakson R Georgia 5,000 Congressman Mark Kirk R Illinois 5,000 Senator Blanche Lincoln D Arkansas 5,000 Senator Barbara Mikulski D Maryland 5,000 Senator Patty Murray D Washington 5,000 Senator Arlen Specter R 5,000 Senator Patrick Leahy D Vermont 1,000

SENATE total: $51,000

AAPD Political Action Committee Steering Committee, 2009-2010

House candidates

Note that the AAPD PAC has already given the maximum contribution allowed for this election cycle for:

. Bill Cassidy (R-6th Louisiana) . Elijah Cummings (D-7th Maryland) . Parker Griffith (R-5th Alabama) . Walter Jones (R-3rd North Carolina) . Rich Larsen (D-2nd Washington State) . (R-2nd Idaho)

Dollar Member or Challenger Party State Amount $ John Adler D (3rd) 2,000 Rodney Alexander R Louisiana (5th) 1,000 Tammy Baldwin D Wisconsin (2nd) 2,500 Xavier Becerra D (31st) 1,000 R Florida (9th) 1,000 Marsha Blackburn R Tennessee (7th) 2,000 Michael C. Burgess, MD R Texas (26th) 2,500 GK Butterfield D North Carolina (1st) 5,000 David Camp R Michigan (4th) 2,000 R Virginia (7th) 2,500 Lois Capps D California (23rd) 3,500 Travis Childers D Mississippi (1st) 2,500 Yvette Clark D New York (11th) 1,000 John Coble D North Carolina (6th) 1,000 Joe Courtney D Connecticut (2nd) 1,000 Artur Davis D Alabama (7th) 1,000 Danny Davis D Illinois (7th) 2,500 Diana DeGette D Colorado (1st) 2,500 Rosa DeLauro D Connecticut (3rd) 3,500

AAPD Political Action Committee Steering Committee, 2009-2010

Dollar Member or Challenger Party State Amount $ Donna Edwards D Maryland (4th) 0 Sam Farr D California (17th) 5,000 Phil Gingrey R Georgia (11th) 2,000 Paul Gosar R Arizona (1st) 2,500 R Texas (12th) 1,000 Gregg Harper R Mississippi (3rd) 4,000 Doc Hastings R Washington (4th) 1,000 Lee Hawkins R Georgia (9th) 5,000 D Maryland (5th) 5,000 Jesse Jackson Jr. D Illinois (2nd) 5,000 Dennis Kucinich D Ohio (10th) 2,500 D California (10th) 0 Nita Lowey D New York (18th) 4,000 Betty McCollum D Minnesota (4th) 2,500 Walter Minnick D Idaho (1st) 1,000 Patrick Murphy D Pennsylvania (8th) 1,000 David Obey D Wisconsin (7th) 5,000 D New Jersey (6th) 1,000 Tom Price R Georgia (6th) 2,000 R California (46th) 1,000 Mike Ross D Arkansas (4th) 2,500 Lucille Roybal-Allard D California (34th) 2,000 D Maryland (2nd) 1,500 Loretta Sanchez D California (39th) 1,000 D Maryland (3rd) 2,500 D Illinois (9th) 3,500 Allyson Schwartz D Pennsylvania (13th) 1,000 John Shimkus R Illinois (19th) 1,000

AAPD Political Action Committee Steering Committee, 2009-2010

Dollar Member or Challenger Party State Amount $ Heath Shuler D North Carolina (11th) 5,000 Pete Stark D California (13th) 0 Edolphus Towns D New York (10th) 3,500 Chris Van Hollen D Maryland (8th) 1,000 Henry Waxman D California (30th) 5,000 D Vermont (0) 1,000 Ed Whitfield R Kentucky (1st) 3,500

HOUSE total: $124,500