December 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 21

nitions. This would help reduce the
financial burden that may limit an individual or family decision to be more
physically active.
At a time when Congress is at a
standstill on so many issues, particularly healthcare, we have seen growing
bipartisan support with the PHIT Act.
This bill currently has 15 Democrats
and 13 Republicans as co-sponsors on
a healthcare-related tax bill. You may
ask, why is this important? For any

A one-dollar investment
in physical activity alone
would reduce medical
expenses by $3.20.
bill to gain enough traction to move
through Congress, it is crucial to have
bipartisan support in order to become
law, and congressional members on
both sides of the aisle see the value of this bill. While we are actively
working with the health and wellness
champions in Congress to increase
support and move the PHIT Act as
a standalone bill, as the conversation
around comprehensive federal tax reform grows and seems more likely, we
are also positioning to see this included in these tax discussions.
NRPA is also working in collaboration with PHIT America, a coalition of physical activity advocates, to
help move this important legislation
through Congress. " America cannot
afford to remain on the current path
and spend one in every five dollars
of our GDP on healthcare, " says
Bill Sells, vice president for government relations and public affairs for
the Sports and Fitness Industry As-

sociation (SFIA), a founding member of PHIT America. " The strong
bipartisan support for PHIT is truly
indicative of the universal view that
physical activity is critical to improving health in America. PHIT will
continue to gain co-sponsors and
momentum going forward as Congress considers ways to improve our
healthcare system to reduce costs.
They will definitely take notice of the
bipartisan approval of this physical
activity initiative. "
You can help build support for the
PHIT Act by speaking with your local
U.S. representative and asking him or
her to co-sponsor H.R. 956 and asking your U.S. senator to introduce the
bill in the Senate. If your congressional member is already a co-sponsor,
express your appreciation. For a current list of co-sponsors, visit http://
thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery
/z?d113:HR00956:@@@P.
Park and recreation agencies are an
important part of the solution to the
obesity crisis, and we need to work to
combat it from every angle, including
tax incentives, to prevent illness and
costs associated with obesity. While fees
at park and recreation agencies are minimal to many, we must help reduce any
financial barrier of engaging in healthy
behavior. This follows two of NRPA's
three pillars: social equity and health
and wellness. The return in healthcare
costs when individuals are physically active speaks for itself. The World
Health Organization determined that
in the United States, a one-dollar investment in physical activity alone would
reduce medical expenses by $3.20. Let's
work to get America moving again and
promote " wellness care " instead of just
" sick care. "
Sage Learn is NRPA's Government Affairs
Manager (slearn@nrpa.org).

W W W. N R PA . O R G | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 |

Parks & Recreation

December 2013 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2013 - Parks & Recreation