| Submitted by Sandy Carey, Registered Lobbyist |
| Great news to all of you -- Our hard work has been amazingly successful this legislative year! |
| As you know, CAOMA sponsored 5 pieces of legislation that related specifically to acupuncture. Those bills were all authored by Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francsico). CAOMA worked with Assemblyman Yee in crafting the final language for these measures. We met with other interested parties, lobbied all members of both houses of the Legislature on numerous occasions, instituted several letter writing campaigns to both Legislators and the Governor’s office, met with legislative staffs of the policy committees where these bills were heard, crafted press releases, contacted members of the media, held two widely attended rallies at the State Capitol, sent out Floor Alerts to both the Assembly and the Senate sides of the Legislature. |
| As you all know by now, these extensive efforts bore fruit, for all but one of these measures flew through all policy and fiscal committees as well as the floor of the Assembly and of the Senate with impressive, if not unheard of, supportive votes. We are indebted to Assemblymember Huff for spearheading an effort to assemble members of the Assembly and Senate to encourage the Governor’s support for these bills. |
| CAOMA also led the way in a significant effort to save the California Acupuncture Board. We were able, through consistent interaction with members of the Legislature, to form a successful working relationship with key members, without whose cooperation we would not have prevailed. Our efforts began soon after the decision came down from the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions and Consumer Protection to sunset the California Acupuncture Board. Through consistent good faith efforts in meetings, discussions and negotiations, an agreement was struck through which the Board could be salvaged through a “reconstitution” bill (SB 248). SB 248 moved through its hearings quickly in the last week of Legislative sessions as was enrolled last week. Many of the same tools were used in this effort as well, i.e., letter writing campaigns, meetings, conferences, discussions, rallies. While the results in this particular effort were not the perfect solution from the perspective of the profession, they were significantly better than a sunset of this Board. We are grateful for the respective efforts of Senator Figueroa and President pro Tempore Perata in crafting this legislation and getting it through its hearings. We are additionally beholden to members of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus and other members of the Legislature in meeting with the Administration and encouraging support for this legislation. |
| CAOMA continues to be involved in meetings and cooperative negotiations with the Governor’s office and others to secure the Administration’s support for all of these bills. We are very hopeful that we will prevail in the effort, although there has been considerable resistance from both the California Medical Association and from the Department of Consumer Affairs. We will keep you apprised. |
| All of these proactive efforts have taken a great deal of time and dedication, with an eye to the “big picture” – protecting and securing the future of acupuncture in California while at the same time ensuring the safety of the consumer. A large part of CAOMA's success is the result of your -- the members, schools, professionals, students, patients -- efforts – and I am very grateful for the continuing move toward unity in the profession. We are going to need everyone working together as we go into 2006 – there are many challenges ahead. |
| Go to CAOMA's California Legislation Pages for Current Status on Acupuncture Bills |