CANP Political Action Committees (PAC) Fund Political Action Committees (PACs) collect and contribute money to political candidates on behalf of organizations or special interest groups. Candidates depend on PAC contributions to fund increasingly costly campaigns involving expensive television and print ads to get their message across. Nursing is a relative newcomer to the arena of PAC contributors. In the early 1970s nursing leaders realized despite their lobbying efforts nationally and statewide, they were having difficulty getting legislation critical to the profession passed. As a result they began the process which culminated with the formation of the American Nurses Association Political Action Committee (ANA/PAC). By the mid-80s, ANA/PAC ranked eightieth out of 4,200 PACS based on the amount of money given to federal candidates. Recently nurses became players in discussions with the Clinton administration on health care reform and were able to get nurse practitioners included as providers. CANP became a new entrant into the PAC arena by forming the CANP PAC in the mid-1980's. Initial funding and expenditures were modest and money was collected solely through contributions NPs made through the CANP newsletter or by attending the PAC fundraiser at the annual CANP conference. CANP fundraising efforts, with a focus on PAC, accelerated with the introduction of AB 1077, the furnishing bill, in 1995. A fundraising committee was set up with professional assistance from hired fundraisers and CANP sharply increased the amount of money contributed to politicians and the number of candidates supported. In the 1996 election, CANP was able to endorse and give significant support to Gerrie Schipske, NP, J.D., the first nurse practitioner to run for the California State Assembly. The current CANP PAC fund is administered by Rich Eichmann & Associates in Sacramento. Decisions on distributions of PAC funds are made by the Government Relations committee based on recommendations from the state and national government relations directors and the CANP lobbyists. Preference is given to legislators or political candidates who have an interest in or who support nursing, NPs, health care access and comparable worth/equity issues. Whenever possible, CANP encourages and funds NPs to attend fundraisers for candidates in their local districts.