On February 21, physical therapists
and students from all over Texas are going to descend on the capitol building
in Austin for TPTA’s Legislative Day. We’ll be talking to Senators and
Representatives about sunset provisions, direct access, and other legislation
that affects our profession. Getting legislation passed and signed into law is
a long and often frustrating process, partly because most of us don’t
understand how it really works. After years of working in the public policy
arena in Washington and Austin, here’s an easy way to break it down.
Getting a bill passed through the Texas
Legislature is like a taking a road trip – your car needs an engine, enough gas
to get you from A to B, and some luggage to take with you.
The engine
is politics. Without the engine, the road trip is over before it begins. It’s
easy to think of politics as the absurd sniping you see on CNN or Twitter; it’s
not, it’s constituent work. Simply put, there’s nothing elected officials care
more about than their voters. These officials may not care about the latest
research on the efficacy of orthopedic manual therapy, but they care about
their voters’ health care access and costs. And, they care when students get
their degree in Texas, only to leave for a different state because the jobs
there are more appealing. They care about their constituents because that’s who
votes.
Ok, now you
need gas – a full tank cause this is gonna be a long ride. The gas in your tank
is the process. Take a deep breath, here we go…A bill is introduced, referenced
to a committee, chairperson decides to hear the bill, testimony is heard, cost
is determined, the committee votes, bill goes to the calendars committee,
calendar committee chair decides to hear the bill, calendar committee passes
the bill, goes to house or senate to vote, amendments are voted on, bill is
passed house or senate, oh and the other chamber has to do all this at the same
time, if the two bills from the house and senate are different, they negotiate
which they go with and then vote again, bill passes, the governor then signs and
it becomes law. Yes, that was a run-on sentence. And yes, things can and
usually do go wrong at any step along the way.
And last
and absolutely least, what’s most important to us is the policy content. Think
about it, on a road trip, you’re not going anywhere without gas and an engine,
but if you leave your toothbrush at home, eh. That jacket that’s supposed to
keep you warm – nope. Point is, the content of the bill, the luggage, is the
least important part of making law. You only get to take what a majority of the
house and senate say you can take. Have you ever tried packing with the input
of 180 people? You’re not taking everything you wanted, but maybe you take one
thing, maybe two, if you’re lucky.
On February
21, we’re gonna check the engine, fill the tank, and pack our bags. It’s not simple,
but it’s important and not just for us, for our patients. We fight for them in
the clinic. We must fight for them at the capitol as well.
Ari Witkin is a first year DPT student at Texas State
University and serves as the PT Delegate for TSPTA. He was formerly on the
professional staff with, then, Senator Joseph Biden, a senior associate with
the Brookings Institution, and a researcher for the Texas House of
Representatives.
