From the Winter 2008 newsletter et cetera

Plant Those Grassroots and

   This year is starting off with more activity for legislative issues than I could have imagined. There are over half a dozen bills in process right now that could impact our clients, funds available for our service, the way we practice, reimbursement, and how we can and cannot work with our colleagues. I don’t know about you, but for all the education and time I have put into this field I want details and answers and most importantly a SAY in all of those things. The great thing about this country is WE DO HAVE A SAY!

   This year, I have a mission to keep you (and me quite honestly) informed and offer opportunity to participate in the legislative issues impacting our field today. MSHA wants to give you the opportunities TO HAVE A SAY.

   So, lets start by planting the seed at MSHA with an interesting and informative session by our lobbyist Stephanie Johnson-Wuttke, which is scheduled for Friday, March 14, 1:30 - 2:30 pm, at the MSHA Conference in Kalamazoo.

   Then, lets grow our grassroots by having you attend the MSHA Legislative Day at the State Capitol on Wednesday, May 14^th to meet with and educate our legislators and their staff. See page 7 of this newsletter. Lets show them this year how many of us there are that are proud of our profession, know what is best for our profession and advocate for our clients and our services.

If you want to start getting that soil ready, commit to being a part of our team. RSVP for the MSHA Legislative Day at the State Capitol, May 14, commit to being ready to contact your legislators when we call for help, or simply attend MSHA and learn more about what our issues are…

Julie Pratt, V-P for Legislation

From the December 2007 newsletter et cetera 

Hear Ye Hear Ye... the Tenure Rule is Final!

With all the hubbub of budget negotiations, taxes, and shut-downs in the state, it is good to know progress is being made in other areas. We were elated to hear the news from our lobbyists that the rule change restoring tenure for teacher-certified speech and language pathologists has passed the entire process and is now official.

As of October 3, 2007, the rule change is effective. What does this mean to those of you in the schools with teacher certification? It means:

Any individuals who accrued time toward tenure before tenure was removed, starts accruing it again. Essentially, the clock has been "un-paused."  Any individuals who had not yet started accruing tenure can now start. Again, the tenure clock starts or is un-paused effective October 3, 2007.  This rule change is not retroactive back to when tenure was inadvertently removed. For additional information and to view the rule change visit the MSHA website, go to Legislation, and click on the link Teacher Tenure.

Another success MSHA has had is the first legislative Workgroup meeting to address licensure for speech-language pathologists. The Workgroup was well attended and overall went well. With only a few entities in opposition to the bill we still have some work to do. And so it will be done... and progress toward licensure will be made.

So, remember our call for help from the fall et cetera - we still need you NOW! Very soon we will start a grassroots mission to contact legislators and obtain their support for our bill. The legislators need your input and MSHA needs your voice. There is power in numbers and you, the constituent, can make that difference. Contact the MSHA office and volunteer to help with the grassroots process. I promise we will do all the work - you just send it out. If you need more information on WHY LICENSURE? or WHAT DO I NEED TO DO? contact the MSHA office or me.

See you in Kalamazoo!

From the Fall 2007 newsletter et cetera

Wanna new role? One that won’t make ya sick, One that won’t make you talk too much or make your eyes too red …

Alright so that was a flashback to my first concert, yes I admit it, Huey Lewis and the News was my first concert-going experience. My new role, Vice-President of Legislation for MSHA. It hasn’t quite made me sick but it has made me learn a ton! My hope, give you a new role as well. I promise, it won’t make you sick, or make you talk too much. The role is simple, I am looking for a few contacts in each voting district of the state. Your job is to make a few calls, send a few letters (don’t stress I will send you samples), and engage a few other professionals whenever our MSHA and ASHA lobbyists tell us to. Essentially, we need to put together a crew of professionals that can assist in contacting their legislators during crucial times. Don’t be afraid, some of the valuable things I have learned in my new role are that the legislators and their staff are typically very easy to talk to, they want to hear from their constituents, and they need and want education on the issues they vote for.

I learned this and a ton more from our very successful Day at the Capitol, May 23^rd. We had an amazing turn-out of clinicians, clients, family members, legislators and support staff in the west wing of the State Capitol. Each and everyone I spoke to was receptive and attentive. Prior to meeting with the legislators in the West Wing, our Lobbyist Stephanie Johnson-Wuttke, gave us excellent education on the status of our legislative issues and tips for speaking with our senators and congressmen. Following this, we received a tribute from Sen. Tupac Hunter (D-Detroit) and Rep. Mary Valentine (D-Muskegon. The day was full of great fellowship, education, excitement and hope.

Although there are several current legislative issues at the state and federal level that impact our field, our area of focus this year was on licensure for SLPs. Currently we have a bill in both the house and the senate proposing that SLPs obtain licensure in the state of Michigan (SB 493, sponsored by Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-14, Huntington Woods, and HB 4810, sponsored by Rep. Maria Donigan, D-26, Royal Oak). We are currently one of only 3 states without licensure and are well on our way to rectifying that situation. Both bills have been referred to the respective Health Policy committees. Currently we are working with Sen. Tom George, ®-20, Kalamazoo), the chair of the Senate Health Policy committee and Rep. Kathy Angerer (D-55, Dundee), chair of the House Health Policy committee to take the bills up in committee.

We are also working with representatives from the Department of Community Health (DCH) to get their support on the issue. We are hopeful that once the state budget issues are resolved we will be able to get a hearing on the legislation sometime this fall. Ok, I confess, that is the part that sounds a bit scary to me! Hey, that is why we need a team!

So, any of this interest you? Wanna new role? My role is to educate, motivate, engage and well…. beg for your interest and assistance. Simply, contact the MSHA office to volunteer for this exciting and new opportunity and wait for me to send you your first request for an information disseminating blitz! I look forward to leading us all in this role and can’t wait to learn more! Let’s mark our calendars and meet in person at next years MSHA Legislative Day at the Capitol, Wednesday, May 14, 2008. See you there!

For more info regarding all of our legislative issues see:

http://michiganspeechhearing.org/legislation.html

http://www.asha.org/about/legislation-advocacy/