AzNA tracks bills based on our Public Policy Agenda. This agenda focuses on the health of all Arizonans and the professional practice and work environment of our Arizona nurses.
April 2, 2018-
With the end of regular committee hearings, the Legislature is pushing through the bills that made it to the floor for a vote. Striker amendments appear regularly as legislators attempt to revive bills that would otherwise be dead this session.
In the midst of legislators trying to seal the deal on bills, there are also many negotiations and much maneuvering by legislators to keep their favored bills alive and moving forward or to stop those they oppose. Additionally, budget negotiations are ramping up. Bills that are unrelated to the budget are used as part of this negotiation process, being applied as leverage while trying to get the bill’s sponsoring legislator on board with items in the budget. It keeps everyone on their toes.
We are lucky to have two lobbyists working for AZNA to watch over nursing during this precarious time at the legislature.
HB2549 controlled substances; dosage limit, which, among other things, amends the opioid legislation passed in January and allows NPs with advanced pain certification to serve as medical directors of pain clinics, was further amended with AzNA input to include dispensing opiods for pain through implantable medical devices. This would have been disallowed under the bill in January but because this promising technology was brought forward by an NP in Southern Arizona, the bill was amended on the Senate floor.