LNCI Central Ohio: Lobbying Congress for you!

Jenny Morgan and Alice Hohl met Thursday afternoon with Rob Nichols, press secretary for U.S. Rep Deborah Pryce, to push for passage of the No Child Left Inside bill.This bill offers funding and incentives to schools who take part in Environmental Education, which has been shown to increase test scores. (Not to mention all the other benefits of getting the students outside in nature.) The bill does not mandate schools to participate: it rewards them for doing so.

We were pleased to represent the Coalition in this manner, and were encouraged by what we heard from Rep. Pryce’s staff during the meeting. Rep. Pryce’s education specialist in Washington D.C. is meeting this week with the National Wildlife Federation. In addition, staff had communicated already this week with Rep. Sarbanes, who serves on the Education and Labor Committee, as well as the Natural Resources Committee, about the bill.

Rob Nichols was encouraging, and although he could not promise support from Rep. Pryce, he felt the bill was something she could “get behind.”

There is more information here on how to write your legislators to encourage passage of the bill, which is scheduled for debate and possible vote in September. Ohio is a key state. You can also join the NLCI Facebook group if you would like regular updates.