National Legislative Forum on Parks and Recreation

by KJ Balogun, EcoDeaf contributor

In March 17 - 20, 2009, there will be National Legislative Forum on Parks and Recreation at Grand Hyatt Washington, in Washington DC.

What it is similar to the Eco-Deaf, & Green Festival's philosophy: "Advance national policies that promote health through physical activity, reconnect children with nature and protect open space for recreation. We need to educate ourselves and our national leaders about the importance of parks and recreation in our communities."

Surely many of us would immediately agree with the topic, however I would still like to introduce you to brief ideas of what National Recreation and Park Association wants us to realize:

NRPA believes that parks and recreation can improve the physical and mental health of every person, and that parks and recreation should be an essential public service of every community in America.

Here are the highlights of the bills:

For parks and public lands, NRPA supports federal investments and national policies that encourage acquistion and development of parks, public lands, and recreation resources from the local to national level that are available to all Americans for use and enjoyment.

Bill: Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): Interior Appropriations–National Park Service

While The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) state assistance program is a matching federal grant program administered by the National Park Service (NPS) that has funded over 40,000 park and recreation projects in the 40 year life-span of the program, the President (Bush) has recommended terminating the LWCF state assistance program in the past three years. The President's 2009 budget once again calls for zero funding for the stateside LWCF grants, and in fact, goes further in requesting that administrative funding to provide oversight be stripped from the program.

Not limiting to lands, NRPA supports in promoting Health, Physical Activity and Recreation: A physically active lifestyle is a critical strategy for disease prevention and health promotion for all people. Public parks and recreation facilities offer low and no-cost opportunities to all Americans of every age, ability and income level to increase their daily physical activity and prevent chronic health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as generally improve mental and physical health.

Bill: Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention America Act (HeLP): Legislation S. 1342 and HR 2633
The HeLP Act seeks to improve the health of Americans and reduce health care costs by reorienting the nation's health care system towards prevention, wellness and self-care. This legislation would convene a task force on childhood obesity and establish a National Advisory Committee on Community Sports Programs for Individuals with Disabilities. It would provide employer and employee tax credits for fees paid to athletic or fitness facilities on behalf of employees, provide for the development of a tool to measure community barriers to participating in physical activity, and provide grants for the development of model communities of play.

Bill: Personal Health Investment Act (PHIT): Legislation—HR 245
This bill would expand pre-tax medical spending accounts to include exercise class registrations, sports league fees, fees charged by recreation centers, and money spent on essential equipment to participate in such programs. Fees charged to participate in healthy lifestyle programs (such as Weight Watchers or Smoke Enders) could also be paid for using pre-tax funds. If this bill were to become law, individuals would be able to allocate up to $1,000 as a tax deductible medical expense.

Finally, but not the least of the other bills, aren't we concern about our oldest education system for our children? Many of us would grow up seeing less and less information on environment, and we do to our earth on daily basis. How many of us know that this country consume most trees to create papers in the world? How many of us know that Nigeria is the sixth-largest producer of oil in the world and one of the main suppliers of oil to American customers.
Yet even though the West African nation is awash in oil money, much of its population is destitute? How many of us know that we can actually stop depending on oil and convert all our cars into electricity, solar motor, or wind motor, and through that change, we will be able to become independent of oil greed and addiction? Now wouldn't we want to educate our children to be able to create a better tomorrow? If you say yes, then here's the bill:

Bill: No Child Left Inside Act (NCLI): Legislation—HR 3036 and S.1981
The No Child Left Inside Act (NCLI), introduced in 2007 in the House as HR 3036 and in the Senate as S.1981, would enable the states to create plans to develop environmental literacy in students; provide funding for teacher training in environmental education; and provide funding to develop state and national capacity in environmental education. This legislation contains no new federal mandates or testing requirements. Public park and recreation agencies and other governmental entities would be authorized as eligible partners. The environmental education components of NCLI are expected be included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also called No Child Left Behind.

In conclusion, I hope this gives you a clear idea of what NRPA's role is, and this would be a great benefit for the deaf leaders and communities across this nation.

Peace be with you. :-)

Sources:
National Legislative Forum on National Parks and Recreation
Documenting The Paradox of Oil, Poverty in Nigeria