Amber Ulvenes
WCAAP Legislative Liaison
Summer is the time of year when we are more engaged with the Governor’s office, state agencies and community partners than we are with legislators. We are following implementation of policies passed in the 2021 session and putting some substance behind our ideas for 2022. Children’s behavioral health, social determinants and vaping policy are the targets right now, and we are fleshing out specific ideas informed by what seems doable. With that said, it’s hard for anyone to have much brain space for anything besides Covid-19 right now. All the excellent media work that chapter members are doing currently is helping us tell our story to legislators and supporting them with critical information to share with their constituents.
As we turn to fall, it’s time to start meeting with legislators again. Getting to them soon means that their own legislative agenda may not be firmed up and they may have capacity to support our priorities. The most meaningful legislator meetings are with constituents, so please jump in. We have talking points for you, plus a legislative lead from the chapter will always try to attend your meeting if you like. Once again, legislative offices are scheduling Zoom meetings, something that makes a half hour meeting fit into a busy clinical schedule more easily and has boosted the participation of our members.
The 2022 session, starting the second week of January, is only sixty days long, and it takes a solid plan and excellent execution to get things done. At this point, the session will likely be a hybrid of in-person and remote work, but as we all know, all plans are in flux right now.
To schedule a meeting in your district, contact Imad Jobah.