The political climate in Washington is changing again with the start of the New Year and this will be a particularly important time to advocate for children's issues and issues vital to NP practice and education. The legislative session after September 11th left little time or funding for other national agendas. There were two bills that passed the last few days of the legislative session. The Nurse Reinvestment Act, also termed the Nursing Shortage Act, passed the House and Senate on December 20th. This bill directs HHS to develop support for state and local broadcast public service announcements promoting the nursing profession. It expands monies for nursing education loans and eligibility of work sites for loan repayment. It also directs monies to study whether a nursing school faculty shortage exists. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, H.R. 1, passed the Senate on December 18th. The bill, also termed the School Environment Protection Act, includes a measure concerning the health and learning impacts of dilapidated school buildings. By approving this legislation, Congress also launched the Healthy and High Performance Schools initiatives at the Department of Education. The department, as advised by the EPA, the Department of Energy and CDC, will be required to conduct a study of the effects of decayed schools on child health and learning; and to develop a state-based program for comprehensive school energy audits, planning and design for 'high performance' school facilities. No funds were allocated for actual construction, but for upfront planning and school design. One issue that requires attention is The Patient Bill of Rights of 2002. Last year, Congress passed this legislation that included the term "physician" in relation to accessing pediatric care provisions. This term could possibly prevent other professionals, such as NPs, from being designated as primary care providers. The differences between the Senate and House bills still need to be reconciled and could provide another opportunity for a change in the language. Please contact your Representative for your voice to be heard on this issue. I will keep you updated as the Committees develop. The 2002 National Nurse Practitioner Summit in Washington, DC will be February 2-5, 2002. The theme is "Policy and Politics in Action" and is sponsored by ACNP. Participants will have the opportunity to meet their Senator or Representative and discuss issues important to NPs and children's health care. Please visit their website at www.nurse.org/acnp for details. Visit the NAPNAP website at www.napnap.org and click on the Legislative Action developed by Allison Shuren, the lobbyist for NAPNAP. You can send your Congressperson or Senator an e-mail on children's issues by typing in your zip code and accessing their e-mail addresses. To subscribe to the NAPNAP Legislative List Serve send an e-mail to info@napnap.org. Help keep a political eye on Washington and children's issues in the New Year! kgd BACK TO AFPNP HOMEPAGE BACK TO ARCHIVES INDEX