Yesterday, we learned that a group of over 450 legislators from all 50 states (and Washington D.C.) have joined together to file what’s called an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

An amicus brief is basically a written legal opinion which is submitted to the court in response to a case.  But, it’s up to the court to decide if they will take that opinion into consideration or not. The brief will be filed tomorrow, Friday the 13th (no ominous foreshadowing intended).

Twenty-five legislators from New York were part of this filing: Assembly Members Richard Gottfried, Thomas Abinanti, Michael Bendetto, James Brennan, Kevin Cahill, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Sandy Galef, Vanessa Gibson, Deborah Glick, Rhoda Jacobs, Ellen Jaffee, Charles Lavine, Barbara Lifton, Alan Maisel, Joan L. Millman, Felix Ortiz, Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Nick Perry, Peter Rivera, Robert Rodriguez, Linda Rosenthal, Michelle Schimel, Eric Stevenson, David Weprin, and State Senator Gustavo Rivera.  Click here to read Assembly Member Gottfried’s press release on the matter.

Now, anybody not in Rivera’s district may be thinking to yourselves, “Yay Assembly! But where are my State Senators?”

And yes, we all know that the State Senate has a Republican majority and that makes turning out a whole lot of support for “Obamacare” rather…difficult…, but that doesn’t mean our Senate Democrats are all just sitting on their hands either.  A group of Democratic leaders in the State Senate (i.e. Minority Leader John Sampson and Senators Tom Duane and Neil Breslin) this morning sent an open letter to Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos on the the benefits that an insurance exchange will bring for New Yorkers (and state coffers), stressing the importance of reaching bi-partisan agreement on this issure.  You can click here to read the full letter.

So, if you’re happy to see your elected officials working to make health care better and more affordable for YOU – be sure to tell them! Drop a line to their office or shoot them a quick email and just say, “Hey man (lady, whatever), thanks for sticking up for my health care needs and for working to do what’s right for New York.” Really, it’s the least you can do.

And if you didn’t see your elected’s name up here…well, go ahead and ask them why the heck not!!! A little guilt can go a long way too ;-).

You can click on those names up there to contact folks directly, or if you don’t see your own electeds’ names up there you can find them on the State Senate website and the State Assembly website.  And if you don’t know who your electeds are, you can also plug in your address on either of those website to find out.