VICTORY AT THE NGA WINTER LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE!!!

With only a week's notice, 50 ADAPT folks from around the east coast and across the nation (PA, MA, CT, DE, DC, MD, TN, TX & CO) gathered in Washington DC for an emergency action which paid off, and big time! Meeting up at a designated corner this past Sunday afternoon, ADAPT's troops moved in on the National Governors' Association, NGA, hotel and slipped in the back door. It seemed the cops knew something about them coming though, because there were four cops blocking off the alcove where the elevators to the convention level were located. The protest took off right there in the lobby in front of the cops and it could be heard even on C-SPAN which was covering the conference.

The hotel and police were determined the media would not cover the protest however, and stuffed the reporters back into the elevators when they came upstairs to find out what was happening. One persistent reporter made it upstairs only to be kicked out of the hotel and have his press credentials for the whole NGA conference taken away.

For a while it seemed 10 or so folks were arrested, but suddenly an NGA representative came upstairs to offer a meeting between Governor Miller of Nevada (the chair of the key committee, and the one we had been demanding to meet with) and two ADAPT representatives.

The leadership team gave the go ahead and Cassie James of Philly and Pete Duran of Boulder met with the Governor for over an hour, while the rest of the troops held a vigil outside. Cassie said "it really wasn't negotiations. They just kept agreeing with all our points!" In the end the two emerged with the attached letter and an agreement to meet again and continue to work together.

For over two years ADAPT has been working on the NGA, and our efforts paid off. The Governors will play a key role in all future negotiations around Medicaid and long term care, so this is a great victory.