Michigan State Assembly of the
Association of Surgical Technologists

 

Legislation Updates
 

Legislative Archives

Mock Surgery Gallery
HB4403 APR2005
HB5544 JAN2006
Changes 2007
2008
MAY2009

 

Michigan Legislative Updates

Use this link to follow the activity of House Bill 4834

http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2009-HB-4834



Michigan was the first state to provide in its Constitution for the establishment of public libraries.



HAVE A Legislative Question?
Email your GPA

 

Michigan Legislative Update Archives

Use the link bar on the left to navigate and learn about some of the issues that have come up and progress we've made in the past.

 

Legislative Update
From Brad Comment

The Michigan Legislature has been on summer break since the 4th of July. However, the leadership in the House, Senate and Governor’s office has been meeting regularly to determine exactly how much revenue they will have to balance their budget. As you can imagine, all eyes have been on the budget since they need to have a budget in place for October 1st or else they face another state shutdown. We expect the month of September to be fast and feverish as the legislature races against the clock to balance the budget.

AST has been working with Surgical Technologists from Kalamazoo to create a grassroots effort targeting Senator George, the Senate Health Policy Chair. In order for our legislation to succeed we need the Chair to support our initiative. If you are a Surgical Technologist and work with Dr. George, anesthesiologist, please notify Cathy Sparkman from AST.

We are also working with the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Surgeons to gain their support. Although the National Chapter supports our legislation we need to get the Michigan Chapter’s support. We are fortunate to have Dr. Lena Napolitano, M.D., from the University of Michigan Hospital, support our initiative. As you may recall, Dr. Napolitano was a spokesperson at the AST National Conference.

The Legislature is going to start meeting regularly this fall so please contact your legislator immediately and ask them to support HB 4834, sponsored by Representative Marie Donigan. You may go to the MI-AST website for information on the legislation such as talking points, and a link will be provided that will give you a draft letter that can be sent from you to your Legislator.

As you recall our mock surgery was a success and we created a buzz with our legislators. Now is the time to make contact with them, explain to them the importance of the legislation, patient safety is our concern so let’s make it the legislature’s concern too.

We need your help to get this done!

Related Links to contact your Michigan Legislators regarding HB 4834 can be found at http://capwiz.com/ast/home/

Talking Points Is a compressed folder containing a Word document that you can edit, save to your computer and print as required. There is also a plain text version that will open in Notepad. The latter format is advised for pasting into web forms. Once Notepad is open check "Word Wrap" under the "Format" menu so that you can see it easily and adjust the window size if you wish. Edit the top section and remove the non-relevant sentence. Do not hit the enter key unless you want to start a new paragraph as the web form will add them where required and it'll look silly if have too many (Webmaster - trust me on this). As a matter of fact this is a good general rule even in Word since paragraph spacing should be adjusted by the paragraph spacing controls.

 

Related Bio Info

Brad Comment, Vice-President of Governmental Relations for Kindsvatter & Associates. He joined the firm in 2008 after years of service as a staff member in the Michigan Legislature and as a Legislative Coordinator for the Michigan Association of Counties.

Cathy Sparkman, JD, is AST’s Director of Government Affairs. Cathy’s knowledge of health care issues and legislative efforts is outstanding. She is a graduate of the University Of Texas School Of Law, and has been a private and corporate attorney for more than 30 years.

Senator Tom George, who is the Chair of the Senate Health Committee, is a practicing Anesthesiologist in the Kalamazoo area. He represents the 20th District of the Michigan Senate. The 20th Senate District includes all of Kalamazoo County and Antwerp and Paw Paw Townships in Van Buren County. He needs to hear from his constituents.

 


Back Home Next

[footer.htm]