Operating funds for the MN Natural Health Legal Reform Project, the lobbying arm of the Minnesota Natural Health Coalition (MNHC), are running low after 3 intensive months of legislative work. If you can help out with a contribution, please call 612-721-3305. We need to have enough of a "war chest" to see our activities through on the floors of the House and Senate. Every bit of support helps the future of alternative health care in Minnesota!
We passed a major test for Freedom of Access today in the full House by an overwhelming majority.
The House proceedings started out immediately with a motion by (our "friend") Rep. Dick Mulder to reject the Joint Committee Hearing report of Apr. 25 and send it back to them for rework. This was pretty obviously a parliamentary tactic to stall us in the committee one more time so the legislative session would run out on us before the bill could pass, effectively killing it. In a long winded speech (that no one on the floor seemed to be listening to, judging from all the private conversations going on among the Representatives), he immediately blasted the bill as a "witchcraft bill" that would restrict the "liberty" of consumers to obtain alternative care. He criticized setting up an "unnecessary board" under the Dept. of Health, saying the National Institute of Health already provides such oversight. He raised the spector of practitioners making "fraudulent billing" to insurance companies and public health funds, claiming there should be "rules for training standards" to limit such behavior. He repeated claims that are patently false about how the MNHC is funded by big bucks lobbying organizations in the state of New York, because they couldn't get such a bill passed in NY and decided to hit up MN instead. He claimed the bill illegally restricted religion by regulating faith healing. He finally poised a question to the original bill's author, Rep. Lynda Boudreau, as to who would investigate matters if someone died at the hands of an alternative practitioner.
Boudreau, practically jumping out of her seat in rage, took the floor and lambasted Mulder for his endless string of misrepresentations, point by point. In particular, she rebutted the claim that FOA regulates "spiritual or mental healing".
Rep. Kevin Goodno, the current author of HF3839 (which includes HF537 now) eloquently praised the bill as good consumer protection, as well as challenged Mulder's charges of "witchcraft" and that the bill would restrict the "liberty to obtain alternative care". He pointed out the contradiction in Mulder's argument that on the one hand, he doesn't want the bill to give legitimacy to alternative therapies, while on the other claiming people won't have enough access to them.
Rep. Kris Hasskamp argued for allowing a multitude of therapeutic options to exist in the state, saying these are "ancient medicine, not alternative medicine". As an example of "quack therapies" that gained legitimacy over time, she held up the example of the Sister Kenny Institute, saying that other modalities should have the chance to prove their worth.
Rep. Joe Opatz defended Mulder and his motion, saying that MN should not endorse "unscientific practices" such as the ones in the bill.
Rep. Peg Larson made some positive comments (it was hard to hear them fully) and Rep. Jim Abeler (a chiropractor) said that there are many good modalities covered by this bill and they should be given a chance.
Mulder came back that this bill is "not about health or medicine, but about alternative care", and that it "gives too much credibility and legitimacy" to "two or three hundred forms" of therapy.
Rep. Phil Carruthers countered with some very reasoned remarks. He said the bill does force consumers to make informed choices about their health while making no state endorsements of any of these modalities. The benefits of the bill are that these therapies already exist, but that now the state will have power to regulate them without going overboard about it. He praised the bill as a good compromise between the many competing issues at stake.
With that, a roll call vote was taken on Mulder's motion to reject the committee report. The vote was 26 yes (to send it back to committee) and 107 no, killing his motion. The committee report was accepted on a voice vote by a decisive margin, and then the bill was finally voted on and passed by a 110 to 23 vote. We passed the House finally!
For the record, here's the list of 23 no voters on FOA. You may want to take it into consideration come the November elections:
Ron Abrams, Bruce Anderson, Chris Gerlach, Lee Greenfield, Mindy Greiling, Barb Haake, Bill Haas, Mark Holsten, Tom Huntley, Phyllis Kahn, Luanne Koskinen, Philip Krinkie, Peggy Leppik, Bernie Lieder, Dick Mulder, Mark Olson, Joe Opatz, Doug Reuter, Michelle Rifenberg, Marty Seifert, Rod Skoe, Dale Swapinski, Jean Wagenius.
So, on to the Senate. They will be in recess for several days, so the earliest our bill will be considered is Thursday, May 4, at the 1:00 PM session. If the date slips, I'll let you know. Please contact your Senator this week!
Gov. Ventura could conceivably have the bill on his desk by Friday, May 5. Please let his office know you support the bill and want him to sign it. It sounds like he hasn't thought about the issue much yet, so your input is important.
If you have some time, it would be good to send a brief note of thanks to all the Representatives that spoke up in favor of the bill during today's debate.
Keep up the work and let's finish the job.
After waiting 4-1/2 hours while the Senate took on other bills, they finally took up SF2474, the bill that contains the Freedom of Access bill. (We got to learn a lot about airports and family farms while we waited...)
The bill was brought up by Sen. Sheila Kiscaden and encountered hardly any debate. Sen. Don Betzold questioned why Sen. Don Samuelson (who was on the Joint Conference Committee) hadn't signed the conference report. Samuelson replied he was out of town at the time. End of discussion.
It was put to a roll call vote. The final vote was 58 to 1 in our favor, with only Betzold voting against us. It all took less than 3 minutes.
The celebrations and picture talking in the hallway outside the Senate chambers took considerably longer, as the supporters in the gallery piled out into the hall. A whole lot of smiles today.
So, we are finally done in the legislature. Please contact Gov. Ventura's office and urge him to sign the bill in the next few days. We're almost there!!
Start chilling the champagne...
The Freedom of Access bills passed the House and Senate last week. As usual, it takes time for the government to move, so it was apparently delivered to Gov. Ventura's office Tuesday, May 9 for his consideration. According to the MN constitution, he has 3 days to either sign it into law or veto it (which sends it back to the legislature). If he does neither in 3 days, the bill becomes law without his signature. So we should know by the end of the week whether we've made it.
Unfortunately, Ventura hasn't really looked at the bill yet and his staff is only beginning to check it out. Plus, he's in Washington DC now for some trade talks. All this means he won't have much time to consider Freedom of Access, plus all the other bills that the legislature is passing at the end of the session.
That's where we come in. Please call, fax, write or email the Governor's office immediately and urge him to sign the bill. The office of Governor has a web site at http://www.mainserver.state.mn.us/governor/ and you can email him from that web site. Phone numbers for his office are 651-296-3391, 1-800-657-3717 or 651-296-2089 for faxes. The office is in the Capitol Building, CAP-130 -- you can even visit his office in person!
Apparently, we are making an impression on them. When I phoned Monday morning to register my point of view, I told the receptionist I wanted to weigh in "on a bill that passed last week." She asked, without dropping a beat, "Oh, you mean the natural health bill?" That's a good sign our calls are stacking up.
Let's make our voices heard -- please call now!
After a nail-biting week of waiting, Gov. Ventura signed the Freedom of Access bill on Thursday, May 11 -- it's now officially the law in Minnesota! The new law takes effect on July 1, 2001, the start of the government's fiscal year.
Please note, for all the celebration, that this is not a return to "business as usual" in the alternative health field, especially for practitioners. We may not be operating clandestinely anymore, but we do have to comply with the Dept. of Health oversight prescribed in this law. That includes the informed consent and disclosure forms, etc. required of us (you might as well start using them with clients right away). Please get a copy of HF3839 and find out your new obligations under the law. We are basically "on probation" the next 3 years, since the legislature will review how well this system is working at that time. Let's make a good showing during this time so there will be no temptation to reduce the freedoms we worked so hard to create.
Now, where's that champagne...
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