IHRSA’s 2011 Public Policy Platform

The Vision for a Healthier, More Prosperous America and Club Industry

Exemplary Leadership

Thank you Public Policy Council Members! Your efforts and your support of the Industry Defense Fund are making a difference in our industry and in the health of our country.

Public Policy Council

It is very important to have everyone in the game. This is not the time for anyone to be on the sidelines.

1.The threat of burdensome regulation has never been higher.2.Your dollars go farther together. 3.IHRSA has the expertise to get results.

...if we let it be.

Our business is a big target for government...

Public Policy Council

Over the past 12 months, IHRSA monitored and tracked well over 300 state legislative bills,

half of which could have had a direct, harmful impact on the bottom lines of IHRSA member clubs.

Massive state budget deficits = multiple sales tax fights.

Since 1997, IHRSA has been involved in 31 Tax battles. Thanks to your support, we’ve been successful 28 times.

Public Policy Council

Sales Tax Tug-of-War

Chances of sales tax defeats are possible.

So far in 2011, we have successfully defeated a tax proposal in Georgia, will likely defeat proposals in Rhode Island, Arizona and Illinois thanks to “Stop The Tax” grassroots

campaigns, and are are monitoring serious threats in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York,

Pennsylvania and Texas.

Reason Two:

It’s good business.

Your dollars go much farther and accomplish much more together.

The Multiplier Effect

Your Dollars Go Farther

The Multiplier Effect

Acting alone, $35,000 may buy you one state lobbyist on one issue.

The same amount to the Industry Defense Fund buys you:

• $900,000 in state and federal lobbying• Daily monitoring of all 50 states• On the ground Grassroots campaigns

70 Years of Expertise

IHRSA has the expertise to get results.

Reason Three:

• Over 70 years of health club specific public policy experience.

• Over 12 years of postgraduate degrees in law, public policy & health.

• IHRSA’s friends and contacts in Government are your friends

Threats by Issue (as of March 17, 2011)

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The best Defense is a good Offense.

Health promotion defeats sales taxes.

Successful Health Promotion legislation at the State Level includes bills in Maryland, Michigan and Colorado.

What about the apathy?

The need has never been greater…Our dollars go farther together…We have a team that can do the job…

But issue fatigue, apathy and shrinking budgets have led some in the industry to sit on the sidelines.

What about the apathy?

When an industry is fragmented and should-be leaders sit on the sidelines, opportunities to use policy and social movements to grow are wasted, and forces that restrict growth through burdensome regulation flourish.

What about the apathy?

Businesses willing to get in the game through participation in public policy are rewarded.

A review of 7,000 businesses, found that politically active businesses are 20% more profitable.

The Vision for a Healthier, More Prosperous America

Introducing a new strategy to get everyone in the game.Following one game plan.With multiple alliances.

The Vision for a Healthier, More Prosperous America

The Vision for a Healthier, More Prosperous America developed out of Senate Resolution 97, which was introduced and passed in the US Senate by unanimous consent in March 2011.

Galvanized by the support the US Senate is showing towards primary prevention and exercise, we have taken the resolution and simplified it into a unified game plan the entire industry can get behind.

SUCCESS!!!Senate Bill 97On March 9, 2011 the Senate adopted by unanimous consent our resolution. Yes, the current Senate, all 100 members unanimously passed this resolution.

Unanimous Consent!

First, we present the five principles of the Vision.

Then, we ask you for a Commitment to act.

Principle 1Primary prevention – the prevention of a disease before it occurs, including regular exercise, healthy eating, avoidance of tobacco and other controlled substances, stress management, and routine medical exams – is critical to the public health and future economic competitiveness of our country. It saves lives, encourages increased individual responsibility, increases worker productivity, and lowers federal health care expenditures.

Principle II

As individuals, professionals, and taxpayers, we must recognize and encourage the role of primary prevention in reducing the toll that chronic diseases have taken on our country.

Principle III

Since the late 1980s, roughly two-thirds of the increase in health care spending in the United States has been due to the increased prevalence of treated chronic disease.Today, about half of all Americans suffer from one of more chronic diseases.A greater emphasis on primary prevention would significantly reduce the annual cost of treating chronic disease (currently $1.5 trillion) in the United States.

How Much is $1.5 Trillion?

Note: the annual cost of treating chronic disease in the U.S. is currently $1.5 trillion.Imagine a professional football stadium, with a fence around the field from sideline to sideline, goal line to goal line.If you poured out $1.5 trillion in $100 bills, it would cover the entire field and create a pile of Benjamin Franklins over 12 feet high, taller than the cross bar on the goal posts.

According to The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, primary prevention may prevent 80% of heart disease

Principle IV

Individually and collectively, we must help our citizens, legislators, and community leaders understand and respond to the documented correlation between chronic disease and primary prevention.

We must actively promote public policies and principles that encourage primary prevention and personal responsibility, such as financial incentives, and that remove barriers to healthy lifestyle choices.

We also must support businesses, health professionals, and local public health communities to encourage individuals to accept personal responsibility for many aspects of their own health through the active practice of primary prevention.

Principle V

Will each of you commit to act?

My Commitment to a Healthier,

More Prosperous America:

My Commitment to a Healthier, More Prosperous America:

■ I agree with and will publicly endorse the “Vision For a Healthier, More Prosperous America” document.

■ I will lead by example by taking responsibility for my own health and practicing primary prevention.

■ I will share the “Vision For a Healthier, More Prosperous America” document with other leaders in my industry, my profession, and my community, and ask them to endorse it as well.

My Commitment to a Healthier, More Prosperous America

(continued):

■ I will ask my Congressional representatives to publicly endorse Resolution 97, which supports the “Vision For a Healthier, More Prosperous America.”

■ I will support and ask my state and federal representatives to support legislation that would (a) remove or oppose barriers to healthy lifestyle choices; and (b) promote primary prevention practices.

My Commitment to a Healthier, More Prosperous America: 31

If you agree to the preceding principles, please pledge your support today:

■ Send an email with the subject title “I Commit to a Healthier America” that includes your name and your club or company name to ExerciseYourRights@ihrsa.org, or

■ Visit www.ihrsa.org/vision (coming soon), or

■ Register to attend the Summit for a Healthier America, taking place May 4th & 5th in Washington, DC. Register at www.ihrsa.org/summit.

Thank you! 32

■ To contact IHRSA Public Policy, email publicpolicy@ihrsa.org, or call 1 800-228-4772 (US & Canada) or +1 617-951-0055.

■ To visit learn more about the Public Policy Council’s Industry Defense Fund, visit www.ihrsa.org/industry-defense-fund.

■ To contribute to the Industry Defense Fund and join the Public Policy Council, visit www.ihrsa.org/pledge.

■ To see a list of current Public Policy Council members, visit www.ihrsa.org/contributors.