Legislative Update - more important news!

Update and Call to Action

From the Arkansas Nurse Practitioner Association Legislative and Policy Committee

 The Arkansas Nurse Practitioner Association is committed to bringing you up-to-date information.  The Eblast below is from the collaborative organization called the "Arkansas Nursing Policy Roundtable" of which ANPA is a partner.  We are all working together to move our legislative "package" forward.  We had a very successful week last week in raising our VOICES to OPPOSE 1254.  However, we have several NP bills that we need you to reach out to our legislators again to SUPPORT. This time, contact your Representatives, Senators, and the Senate and House PHWL Committees. We have attached the contact information for both the Senate and the House to this Eblast. Thanks for all of our ANPA members and followers!  Join the conversation on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Arkansas-Nurse-Practitioner-Association-177076869145677/ 

From the Roundtable 1/30/17:

FIRST OF ALL…WOW!   Thank you all for a record-breaking and unprecedented response to the Call to Action in opposition to HB 1254!

• Over 1300 emails went out to members of the House last week from the website nursesforarkansas.com alone!
• Nursing organizational leadership reported over 20,000+ views to their social media posts with an enormous response from nurses to legislators – through emails, texts, phone calls, letters, and face-to-face meetings.
• Our voices were united…and we were heard loud and clear.
• HB 1254 is now scheduled to be heard the week of February 13, 2017.

KEEP THE MOMENTUM! 

• Talk to your legislators about our APRN bills – you can find the bills on nursesfor arkansas.com along with talking points to support your message.
• We can get them passed if we act together! It is hearing from their own constituents and the volume of action that legislators most respond to…so please become an active member of this grassroots nursing effort!
• Watch for email Legislative Updates over the next two weeks to better understand the issues, the bills introduced to address these issues, and the specific actions you can take to educate your legislators about them.

What You Need to Do NOW:

1. Go to nursesforarkansas.com
2. Click on the Take Action tab
3. Click on the Actions arrow on the left center portion of the page
4. Click on each of the current Advocacy Campaign Active and State Issues (we have four advocacy campaigns available so far, but will have a Voter Voice message in place for each bill soon…so check back frequently)
5. Review the preformatted letter(s) and edit if you wish to personalize the message
6. Sign the letter(s) and create a profile by entering your address and other information
7. Click Send Message - Your message will be sent to your Legislator(s) based on your address
8. THEN…Write or call the other membersof the House and Senate Public Health, Welfare, & Labor Committees to educate them about these bills and the issues that they address
9. Realize that we need to educate the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee members…but we also must educate ALL our Representatives and Senators about these bills in the event they go to the floor of these chambers for a vote
10. Share this information with at least five of your colleagues and on social media

REMEMBER THIS:

• There is no one better than you to speak with the legislators about your practice, and how these bills could help you. Phone calls, personal letters, or face-to-face meetings are the most effective, but we now have access to Voter Voice on the website for communicating with legislators quickly using prewritten, editable email messages. 
• We have learned from our legislator friends that written letters have great effect. So…if you have time, please consider this form of communication, either as an initial contact method or in follow-up to a message you have previously sent to them.  If you use the website to send your messages, please feel free to copy and edit the content of the messages and to add your personal experiences and thoughts for extra impact.
• What works well
  • Make an outreach phone call initially.  
  • If you must leave a message just tell him/her who you are, why you are calling--mention that you live in their district.  Offer to meet up or speak on the phone. 
  • Say you would like to talk about the bills that are about advanced practice nurses and improving access to care.
  • Use the Nurses for Arkansas website and the Nurses4Arkansas Facebook page to stay updated daily.
• Look for your legislators on Facebook, and friend them, too.
• Report back to us who you contacted and provide us with an idea of how you feel your communication was received. A short survey monkey has been set up to help us gather the results of the legislator communications https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BMLQC2B

RESOURCES

Webpage: www.nursesforarkansas.com  

Facebook: Nurses4Arkansas

Mobile APP: LobbyUp. Download the free app to your iphone -  It allows you to have legislators contact info at your fingertips (all of them).  And you can search for bills on it.  If you are in your home district at the moment, you can hit "my legislators" and it will bring up your own 2 legislators!!  Pretty cool.  It is specific for Arkansas. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lobbyup-legislative-directory/id389295969?mt=8#

This is an exciting and historic time to be a nurse in Arkansas. Please be an active member of this grassroots effort to improve access to health care in our state! You will be glad that you did!

Sincerely,

The Arkansas Nursing Policy Roundtable