The 2000 APA election involves the election of our officers for the coming year and a vote on our corporate reorganization. As you know, our present charitable tax classification, 501(c)(3), places strict limits on the resources we can devote to government relations, public education, and direct support to our district branches.

The only way to overcome these restrictions on advocacy and district branch support is through a corporate reorganization. In the January ballot you will be asked to approve APA’s reorganizing itself by establishing a nonprofit professional organization under section 501(c)(6) of the tax code, the organizational structure now used by most other medical specialty organizations and most of our own district branches. In the reorganization, the present corporate structure of the 501(c)(3) organization will be continued to carry on our important scientific and educational activities.

Members are being asked to vote in favor of this step after nearly two years of careful exploration and planning. During the coming year, assuming our members and the IRS both approve our plans, we will implement the change in our corporate structure that will take effect on January 1, 2001.

The reorganization will unshackle our advocacy machinery and allow for new programs to support our district branches and state societies. The key step in this reorganization now is approval by our members of the revision in our present APA bylaws, that is, those of our current 501(c)(3) corporation. For this initiative to pass, one-third of APA’s voting members must vote on the reorganization issue, and of those, two-thirds must vote in favor of the change.

Please read the information in this issue carefully and consider APA’s future ability to serve as an effective advocate for our patients and our profession. Shifting resources to these critical areas of need depends on our ability to change our corporate status, and I, therefore, urge you to vote in favor of the reorganization when you return your ballot in January.