On June 27th, OFNHP Treasurer Joshua Holt participated in a lobbying event at the United States Capitol sponsored by the American Nurses Association (ANA). Holt, an RN since 2010 and a past-Chair of the Kaiser RN Bargaining Unit, has served in union leadership since 2016 He is a member of the Cabinet on Health Policy for the Oregon Nurses Association, the statewide affiliate of the ANA and professional association for nurses in Oregon.
This year’s lobbying efforts were tied to four key legislative goals:
- Restricting mandatory overtime for nurses
- Support for the Nurse Faculty Shortage Reduction Act (H.R. 7002, S. 2815)
- Support for the Improving Care and Access to nurses (ICAN) Act (H.R. 2713, S. 2418)
- Opposing a Congressional Review Act repeal of the CMS Final Rule on long-term care facility staffing
Holt and other participants from Oregon met with Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1) and congressional staff from the offices of Rep. Cliff Bentz (OR-2) and Senators Wyden and Merkley. Almost 500 nurses and nursing students participated in the lobbying day and had hundreds of meetings with congressional representatives and their staff.
“It was a lot of fun and super important,” said Holt about his experience. “The congressional representatives were all extremely welcoming and really wanted to hear what we had to say. We may have even seen movement on some of our priorities that was unexpected.” And he noted, “of course, we’re lucky in Oregon to be represented by my Rep. Bonamici who co-chairs the Congressional Nursing Caucus and Sen. Merkley who is the co-chair of the Senate Nursing Caucus.” Advocacy from union members leveraging their memberships in professional associations is a key tool for advancing our political goals.
“Did you know that Nurse Practitioners and PAs can’t write for treatments needed for the medicare population like for diabetic footwear, even though they are licensed for it in Oregon? That’s why common sense legislation like the ICAN and finding ways to raise nurse faculty wages so they don’t get paid significantly less than a new grad RN is so important to fight for,” commented Holt. This ends up as a question about how we can attract and retain long-tenured staff, especially since all issues of pay ultimately become issues of safe staffing levels and our ability to maintain the right standard.
When asked how other union members can participate in lobbying efforts that will make a difference, Holt said, “It is important to get involved. Democracy is not something we get to enjoy, it is something we have to do. Sign up to contribute to the OFNHP PEAC with a payroll deduction, join the PEAC committee, join your professional association or volunteer organizations and do more than pay your dues. Our representatives want to hear from us. If we’re not there speaking up, the only voices in the room are those with interests that don’t align with ours. Let’s not assume other folks will take care of it for us, let’s get involved and act!”
A great way to get involved in the political process is to become a PEAC contributor, which helps us to elect pro-healthcare, pro-labor political leaders.