Advocacy

In addition to sponsoring legislative proposals, CDHA also monitors bills that impact the dental hygienist profession. In many cases, CDHA will take an official position on these bills. How CDHA decides which bills to support or oppose is a process outlined below that has been developed as a means for determining on a case-by-case basis whether CDHA supports, opposes, or remains neutral.

Protocol for Disseminating Bills

• The legislative advocate screens all new bills. The legislative advocate creates a bill tracking list which includes regular updates on where each bill is in the legislative process. The legislative advocate makes recommendations on bill positions and priorities.
• The legislative advocate’s recommendations are sent to the Government Relations Council (GRC) to solicit input and feedback.
• The GRC and/or legislative advocate will review the bills to include the importance of the bill to dental hygiene practice, controversial issues, and rationale for the recommended position. GRC members are responsible for sharing information and background about how proposed legislation may impact their practice. A recommended position will be discussed and a position adopted.
• The GRC is responsible for prioritizing the legislation under review, recognizing that CDHA cannot take an active position on every bill but instead must focus its efforts on the top priority bills.

Support or Oppose

The legislative advocate will write a letter to the author of the bill and appropriate legislative committee members delineating CDHA’s position on the bill. We may oppose unless amended, and suggested amendments will be drafted by CDHA’s advocacy team.

Watch

These are bills that could potentially impact RDHs, but which we do not support or oppose, including bills that could be potential vehicles that may be amended later. The legislative advocate is not expected to write a letter to the group involved with the bill.

Following Bills

The complete list of bills on which CDHA has taken a position or is monitoring can be viewed via our online bill tracker.