Issue Position: About The Auxiliary Act
Issue Position
"Anyone who has ever participated in the life of a church may have observed that the people who do a lot of the heavy lifting in the organization are not always the paid staff, but the AUXILIARY.
The Auxiliary is typically an informal group within the congregation that performs social and other services for other members in times of need, plans and executes events and fundraisers, etc, in support of the broader mission of the church.
An Auxiliary group has the potential to respond rapidly to emerging situations, without necessarily being hamstrung by the formalities involved in long term planning and execution, which will always fall within the prime agency's purview.
Auxiliaries, although they may typically be "informal" in their organizational format, may also be fully formalized organizations.
Examples of formal and informal Auxiliaries include the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Police and Fire Auxiliaries, National and State Guard Auxiliaries, and of course the countless Church Auxiliaries that exist throughout the country.
I propose the (NATIONAL) AUXILIARY ACT, which would require that public facing federal agencies facilitate, incubate, and foster AUXILIARY activities to work in support of their missions.
For example, a Veterans Hospital Auxiliary might engage in activities to monitor clinic efficiencies, patient advocacy, and resolution of special needs situations, to name a few areas of potential.
The AUXILIARY ACT would simply mandate that the larger organization recognize the right of an AUXILIARY to exist, and facilitate and foster it's mission within the broader mission of the organization, by providing nominal space, and inclusion by invitation in and to all public meetings of management and directors. A VA Hospital Auxiliary would naturally be composed of volunteer members of the patient community, their families, and allies.
Agencies that would be affected include the Veterans Administration (including all service facilities), Department of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Education, Federally Qualified Health Centers, etc."
-- Mike
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