Prospectus
MEMBERSHIP NEWS & UPDATES
VOL. 42 | ISSUE 2 | 2016
2016 Legislative Congratulations Session Recap to New AOA President Dawn Chivers, OD, NYSOA President
The 2015-2016 legislative session saw 18,440 bills introduced into the New York Legislature. Only a small fraction of those bills, 678, were passed by both houses. Even fewer will be signed by the governor and enacted into law. About 20% of bills passed by both houses have been vetoed by the governor. On the last official day of the legislative session, the orals bill passed in the Senate 60-2. The bill that was passed in the Senate was a compilation of negotiations between the New York State Ophthalmology Society, NYSOA and the New York State Education Department. Although it was not a perfect bill, it would have allowed 98% of what most optometrists need to be able to do in their everyday practice.
One of the biggest challenges we had late in the legislative process, and ultimately the reason why our bill did not move out of committee in the Assembly, was trying to agree upon language to address concerns voiced by the Education Department. Unfortunately, some of those changes would have upset our agreement with ophthalmology, so we were not able to address all of their concerns. The concerns that were addressed ultimately made our bill better. We will meet with the State Education Department, ophthalmology, and Senate and Assembly staff during the off-session and continue to discuss, and address, any remaining issues. We will be much better situated – both in time and hopefully bill language – when January arrives. Historically, it has taken us two years to get our scope of practice expansion bills through the New York State Legislature. The legislation to authorize diagnostics (1983) and topical medications (1995), both passed one house, but not the other in the year before they were enacted into law. Although we all intended to break the cycle, we are in a very good position to get our bill through both houses in 2017. Thank you to everyone who helped with our grassroots efforts in emailing and calling legislators. While it is frustrating to have not completed the job, having our bill successfully pass in the Senate was a major accomplishment.
Please join us in congratulating New York’s very own Dr. Andrea Thau as she takes the helm at the American Optometric Association. Dr. Thau was sworn into office July 2, 2016 on the final day of the 119th Annual AOA Congress & 45th Annual American Optometric Student Association Conference: Optometry's Meeting® in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Thau served as the first woman president of the New York State Optometric Association, and she is the first optometrist from New York to serve as President of the AOA in over 60 years.
Drs. Richard Soden, Fran Reinstein, Dawn Chivers, Andrea Thau, and Michele Lagana
| Inside | IN MEMORIAM.............................................................2 NYSOA 121ST ANNUAL MEETING...............................4 FASO FOR CONGRESS CONTRIBUTORS.....................8 MEET THE NEW LEADERS........................................10 NYSOA MEMBER BENEFITS......................................16 NYSOA BUSINESS PARTNERS..................................18