NHANA Political Interests: With Bill Gabler
Legislative Report Dec 2006

This year's election has ushered in the most cataclysmic change in New Hampshire politics in over 100 years. In fact, the last time that the Democratic Party held the governorship, a majority on the executive council and majorities in both the house and senate was before the Civil War.

The NHANA PAC was able to contribute to a number of winning candidates during this election, allowing us to cultivate better relations with the new leadership teams in both the house and senate. Your contributions at the state level helped tremendously and provided the funds to support 18 separate candidates, as well as the various leadership teams. In all but 2 cases, the candidates we supported won – thanks for the help. Now . . . while some might consider it premature, I want to put in an early plug to thinking of ensuring the PAC fund is fully financed for the 2008 election. It is anticipated that this will be a very active election cycle, with congressmen, senator, governor, president and all of our state legislators up for election.

As we move into the 2007 legislative session in Concord, I am anticipating that we will see 1,100 to 1,200 pieces of legislation submitted, between the two chambers. Without going into detail, I'll just say that this will give us much to be watchful for, lest someone sneak something through, as well as the potential direct assaults.

In addition to the battles over legislation, there will be a lengthy and potentially bloody fight over the budget this year. Having sat in on three days of budget presentations, I know that the departments, including Health and Human Services, are requesting hundreds of millions more dollars than is currently available from revenues. On top of that will be the perennial battle over education funding.

So, while there is much to be thankful for in what we accomplished this year, we really have to remain vigilant as we look forward.

Thanks for your support and all that you do. Bill Gabler

Legislative Report Spring 2006

   The BIG news that we're all talking about is that after much wrangling, Senate Bill 170 (Nurse Practice Act) has cleared all of the hurdles and been signed into law. Governor Lynch signed it last month, making it the law of the land. I won’t bore you with all of the details regarding what it took to get this through. Instead, I'll just say that there are forces in the state who seriously want to keep nurses in check and to curtail the scope of practice they currently enjoy, especially the practice of ARNP's. I think that we caught them somewhat off guard with an organized and effective campaign to get this bill through. Because of that, they found themselves on the defensive and failed to block passage of the bill, but they will now be counterattacking during the next session.

   While not a perfect piece of legislation, this bill preserves all of the elements vital to good nursing and ensures that the practice of CRNA's will not be impacted. So, it's important that we defend our efforts and work, where possible, to fine tune it by improving on the efforts of the last session.

   I know that it sounds like hyperbole to say that we can't relax, but it really is true. I know of several legislators who are upset about the passage of this bill and are already preparing to snip away at it and take steps to impose more controls on nurses.

   The counterattack is coming, making it all that much more important for members of the Association to be knowledgeable and active in the legislative process. We will be doing sessions to educated CRNA’s about how the legislature works, what really goes on in Concord, and letting you know how you can be effective in affecting that process.

   While it may be viewed as an uncomfortable task by some, remember, every letter, call and e-mail to a legislator counts, and turning out a room full of nurses/ARNP's/CRNA's to directly tell a committee what you think can clearly turn the tide. It all helps and now is the time to start preparing for that sort of action. The window for filing of new bills for next year opens on Sep. 6 th.

NHANA at opening cermony of Nurse Anesthetists Week 2006