Recent Legislative Updates

Legislative Update

Health Policy Committee met on February 17th.   Our Washington Consultant is encouraging members to be aware of Congress’s intention to cut $100 billion dollars out of the budget. This could mean a 29% decrease in funding for Nursing education. We are again encourage to get know our new US Senators and Representatives in order to develop grass roots influence for this legislative session as they move forward.

The following bills were discussed in last evening's chapter meeting:

At the State Level there are a few bills that have been introduced for us to be aware of:

SB 140: Prohibits CRNAs and other APNs from proving pain management. This bill did not make it out of Committee but Senator Martinez has not given up on it and it will probably continue to be an issue.

SB 1616: Elimination of Written Collaborative Agreements (WCA). Please take a minute to read the bill as introduced it was published to our site using Cap Wiz - http://www.napnap.org/NAPNAPAdvocacy/legactioncenter.aspx

HB 1197: Amends the School Code and the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act. Requires all schools, whether public or private, who are members of the Illinois High School Association to adopt a student athlete injury policy that provides that if a student athlete is injured during play and the coach suspects that the student might have a concussion, then the student is prohibited from returning to play until a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, an advanced practice nurse, or a physician's assistant authorizes the student to return to play. Urges school boards to encourage their teachers and other school personnel who coach school athletic programs and other extracurricular school activities to acquire training in recognizing the symptoms of a concussion and the proper steps to take in suspected concussion cases. Rep. Monique Davis is the bill sponsor.