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

Upcoming Town Hall Meeting! – May 20th, 2007

Sunday May 20, 2007 @ Touro College in Manhattan, 27 West 23 St. off 6th Ave. 6th floor, 4:30 PM

Dear AOM Colleagues:

In February 2007 The NYS Acupuncture Coalition sponsored a Town Hall meeting at Touro College to put forward to the professional community a legislative proposal that seeks to protect the use of herbal medicine within the acupuncture license. The proposal met with tremendous support from the community. This includes seasoned practitioners, new graduates, students, Chinese herb growers and suppliers, AOM professional organizations and schools.

There followed from the meeting continued outreach and communication efforts. To this end a question and answer session was held at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in March, which was well attended. A meeting in Long Island is in the planning stages and a follow up meeting in Manhattan will be held on May 20th. The Steering Committee has continued to hold weekly conference calls and to respond to issues as they arise.

Legislative initiatives require patience, tenaciousness and a commitment to keep the focus on the proposed goal. This requires a commitment over the long term and to see the Bill go through it’s many stages, over multiple legislative seasons. The initiative is still active alive and kicking. IT NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT.

If you wish to see this goal achieved attend the meeting, bring a colleague and if you can not make the meeting: make a financial contribution to pay our lobbyist. If the profession wishes to achieve the benefit of legal acknowledgment of it’s herbal work, financial support is a requirement. You can do this at the meeting or on the web site @ www.nysacupuncture.org.

Please join members of the New York Acupuncture/ Oriental medicine community and the Coalition Steering Committee

Sunday May 20, 2007 @ Touro College in Manhattan, 27 West 23 St. off 6th Ave. 6th floor, 4:30 PM

This is a follow up meeting to continue to chart the course for the achievement of legal, inclusive and protected use of herbal medicine for the licensed acupuncturist in New York State.