June 27, 2005 - Sacramento, CA - Four of five Yee bills passed the Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee today.

Leland Yee Today, acupuncture supporters and opponents packed the Senate hearing room in Sacramento for Assemblyman Leland Yee's five bills affecting the oriental/Asian medicine profession. The day began, however, with a slight delay as singer and dancer and American Idol judge Paula Abdul arrived with a entourage of reporters to record her testimony in support of legislation by Assemblyman Yee that will require standards be set for the proper sanitation of manicure and pedicure equipment. Abdul told of her pain and suffering after contracting a severe staph infection in her thumb from a manicure. AB 1263 passed.4-1, under the watchful eye of national press coverage.

Dr. Yee's acupuncturist bills were not heard for another two hours, where the real showdowns were AB 1113 and AB 1116.

AB 1113 will authorize diagnosis by acupuncturists. In her introduction, Chairperson Senator Figueroa began by stating that both the Democratic and the Republican caucuses had taken "support" positions on AB 1113, and that testimony should be kept to a minimum for fear of losing party-line votes. Support testimony from CAOMA President Michelle Lau and Vice President Yong Sup Lee was concise and to the point. Since the committee analysis contained newly printed misinformation on a loosely related subject,  CAOMA Executive Director Brian Fennen took the opportunity to simply request that this mis-information be corrected in the future by committee staff. While this was a slight annoyance to the Senator, who may not have wanted her staff to be corrected, observers commented that such errors needed to be corrected as they arise, and that this was the time to do it.

Opponents to AB 1113 included just one physician organization, one chiropractor organization, and one osteopath organization, all laying exclusive claim to the right to diagnose, and opposed to allowing any further competition in that area of "their" practice of medicine. None of the dozens of other organizations that represent theirs or other diagnosing health care professions thought it necessary to oppose sharing diagnostic authority with acupuncturists.

In an unexpected twist, Senator Dean Florez voted against acupuncturists' authority to diagnose, after his support for the profession on two previous bills heard in this committee. His vote was not a swing vote on any of the Yee bills, however, and did not affect the passage of the bills through the committee. *

AB 1114 and AB 1115 moved along more smoothly, with minor amendments recommended by members of the Committee taken by the author.

AB 1114 was amended to state that "No more than five hours of continuing education may be spend on issues unrelated to clinical matters or the actual provision of health care to patients."

AB 1115 was amended to strike the term "acupuncture corporations" from the bill.

AB 1116 turned out to be the most controversial bill, with representatives of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) and the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM)** mounting an assault against the bill and against the profession. Liza Goldblatt, ACTCM Vice President of Academic Affairs, gave the most controversial  testimony, speaking negatively towards the continued efforts of profession to improve itself through advancements in education. As the former Council of Colleges president who spearheaded the CCAOM's hiring of a lobbying firm to oppose improvements in oriental medicine education in 2002-2003, Goldblatt worked closely with her  rehired lobbyist Randy Pollack to work legislators against AB 1116 and perhaps against other interests of the profession.

The president of the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College of Berkeley testified at the hearing that they had withdrawn their opposition after meeting with Assemblyman Yee to clarify the nature of the bill and its amendments, and Emperors College submitted a letter specifically requesting that its listed opposition be withdrawn from the committee analysis after their board of directors discovered that they were listed as opposed without their knowledge or consent. Thier letter was not included as part of the public record and went unmentioned. It was unknown how many other schools were inaccurately listed as opposed without their knowledge and consent, or without knowledge of the amendments to the bill.

While certain school representatives continued to fabricate myths and misleading claims in written and oral opposition testimony, rebuttal by supporters was not allowed, and Senator Figueroa called for a vote against the bill, leading to its defeat.

AB 1117 passed without comment.


SENATE BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE HEARING - JUNE 27, 2005
Bill No.
Subject
Supporters
Opponents
AB 1113
Passed 5-1
Diagnosis
 CAOMA organizations, South Baylo University, Southern California University of Health Sciences, California Acupuncture Board, numerous individuals California Medical Association, California Chiropractic Association, California Osteopathic Association
AB 1114
Passed 5-1
Continuing Education
 CAOMA organizations, South Baylo University, Southern California University of Health Sciences, California Acupuncture Board, numerous individuals None
AB 1115
Passed 5-1
Acupuncture Assistants
 CAOMA organizations, South Baylo University, numerous individuals None
AB 1116
Failed 0-4
Postgraduate Residency
 CAOMA organizations, South Baylo University, Southern California University of Health Sciences, numerous individuals Liza Goldblatt representing the  American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM), Tom Haines representing Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM), Bill Mosca (ACTCM board member and student), representing Acupuncture and Integrated Medicine Specialists (AIMS), and the positions of the California State Oriental Medical Association (CSOMA), and the American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM).
AB 1117
Passed 6-0
Asian Medicine
 CAOMA organizations, California Acupuncture Board, numerous individuals None



ACUPUNCTURE VOTING RECORD FOR SENATE BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Bill No.
Subject
Figueroa
Campbell
Aanestad
Florez
Morrow
Murray
Simitian
AB 1113
Passed 5-1
Diagnosis
AYE
absent
AYE
NO***
AYE
AYE
AYE
AB 1114
Passed 5-1
Continuing Education
AYE
absent
AYE
AYE
NO***
AYE
AYE
AB 1115
Passed 4-1
Acupuncture Assistants
AYE
absent
AYE
NO***
abstain
AYE
AYE
AB 1116
Failed 0-4
Postgraduate Residency
abstain
absent
NO
NO
NO
abstain
NO
AB 1117
Passed 6-0
Asian Medicine
AYE
absent
AYE
AYE
AYE
AYE
AYE
Overall Voting Record:
80%
0%
80%
40%
50%
80%
80%

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* AB 1113 - AIMS, an organization adminstered by a student and Board member of ACTCM, had repeatedly lobbied Dr. Yee to change the language in AB 1113 that authorizes acupuncturists to diagnose, but were rejected. As recently as a month ago, a representative of AIMS and a representative of a school continued to suggest controvesial and potentially detrimental amendments to AB 1113 and SB 233.  According to the Senate committee analysis, AIMS did not register support for any of the Yee bills, yet claims to support all but AB 1116 on its website.
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** AB 1116 - AIMS, ACTCM, and PCOM had mounted strong opposition to AB 1116, and a number of schools besides ACTCM and PCOM were listed as opponents to AB 1116. However, communications by CAOMA and Assemblyman Yee's staff with officials at some of the other schools uncovered the fact that many were unaware of their listed opposition, had been misinformed about the bill by the representatives from ACTCM and PCOM, and/or were unaware that AB 1116 had been amended to address concerns raised a few months ago. ACTCM provided the bulk of the testimony against AB 1116, delivered by two students, a professor, and two administrators.
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*** The NO votes in committee on AB 1113, 1114, and 1115 may serve to delay passage of these bills on the Senate Floor, which allows more time for the opposition to sway votes against them. Bills without any opposition or NO votes, such as AB 1117, can be placed on a "Consent Calendar" to be voted on in bulk.
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Go to the California Legislation Pages for Current Status on Acupuncture Bills