The OSNA Legislative Committee has been busy this fall preparing for the 2021 Oregon State Legislative session. We are excited to have more members joining us in this very important work.
Senator Monnes Anderson has agreed to sponsor and introduce a bill that creates the position of School Nurse Specialist at the Oregon Department of Education. Senator Monnes Anderson is a retired public health nurse who serves the communities of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village. She has a strong passion for educational issues.
The bill is currently a Legislative Concept, which means it has been drafted as a proposed bill and will be assigned a bill number in the coming weeks. This bill would create a legislatively mandated position at the Oregon Department of Education for a Registered Nurse who would be involved at a policy level to inform school policy and practice related to student health. The person in this role would collaborate with the School Nurse Consultant at the Oregon Health Authority.
School Health is a non-partisan issue, so over the next few weeks, we need to be reaching out to both Democratic and Republican Legislators to seek additional sponsors. If you know of Senators who may be interested in co-sponsoring this legislation please contact Wendy NIskanen.
As the legislative session gets closer, we are going to be asking school nurses to contact their elected legislators to encourage them to support this very important legislation. We will soon be providing tips and guidance on how to do this. It is easy and will make a big difference; our unified voices will be essential to our success!
We are also going to be looking for a team of behind the scenes individuals who will help us monitor legislation so we are aware of legislation that might impact students and school health. We will provide training and set up a process for this team to work together virtually. It will only take an hour or two of your time. If you are interested in considering this please contact Wendy Niskanen