May 24, 2022

Good news!

Earlier today, the Assembly passed our OMIG Reform bill. In the Senate, the bill is set up for a vote by the full house tomorrow!

We expect the Senate to pass its’ Opioid Package tomorrow.  (In an earlier email we briefed all members on the group of bills that are part of the package.)

Regarding the Clinical Scope of Practice issues we have discussed during our last few NYS Council Public Policy calls, negotiations to identify a solution to the problems currently facing Article 163 practitioners (and the agencies that rely on them), are ongoing.  To date, there is no bill with a proposal such as the one we reviewed with members recently.
On the issue of what specific tasks and activities newly hired unlicensed staff can perform after the sunset of the exemption, there is now a Senator Harckham bill that incorporates the proposed solution language we reviewed with members a few weeks ago.  However, that bill (S6378A) is hung up in the Senate’s Higher Education Committee.  And to keep it all oh-so-interesting, there is now a bill (A9336) that would implement an extension of the current exemption for our workforce, until 1/1/2025.

Finally, as you saw earlier, we are in rapid response mode, pushing our Model Contract Transparency bill that has passed in the Assembly and is set up for a vote in the Senate.  We just need to make sure it gets on a calendar for a vote before the end of session.