NYSAC 5/28/07 Update

Dear Members of the New York AOM Community:

This is an update from your colleagues at the New York State Coalition.

On May 20th the second town hall meeting was held at Touro College. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the legislation for inclusion and protection of herbal medicine under the LAc license. The meeting was well attended. Once again we garnered support from many members of the community, including practitioners, students, professional organizations, and schools.

We brought everyone up to date on the Coalition’s activities, including the following developments:

*The original lobbyist discussed at the February meeting became
unavailable to the Coalition, so the members of the Steering Committee had to research and identify a new lobbyist. The search lead to Mr. David Carroll of Northeast Government Consulting (see www.ngclobby.com). Mr. Carroll is motivated, enthusiastic and already hard at work. This week he submitted our preliminary language to professional bill drafters for review. He also held numerous meeting with contacts in Albany on behalf of our legislation. He is working to get us a bill number by the end of the legislative session.

*Our original lobbying day, planned for April, was postponed due to need to find new representation. Now, with David Carroll’s support, we are looking to reschedule that day for some time after the summer break. We will let you know as soon as the date is finalized.

*The State Board for Acupuncture is meeting on June 1. At this time the Steering Committee will make a formal presentation to the Board, to seek support for our initiative.

*After the bill is numbered we can all begin to visit legislators in their home offices to make contact, inform them of the bill, and ask for support and favorable passage once the bill is presented for vote.

We are building and learning as we move along. It is important to stay connected in the process. Feedback from the May 20th meeting indicates the importance of inclusion and communication. Look for regular email updates and more consistent follow up in the months to come. Also, we understand the need to provide time and room for dialogue—our next general meeting will be organized to encourage open discussion and dialogue.

Thank you for your continued support as we move forward toward achieving
our legislative goals.

Best wishes for the Memorial Day Holiday.

With kind regards,

The Steering Committee of the New York State Acupuncture Coalition