17th Annual Lobby Day Information

Hello Lobby Day Colleagues! 

The 17th Annual CNMA Lobby Day is just around the corner! We are looking forward to a fun and successful day. 

DETAILS FOR THE DAY!

Date: Tuesday May 7th  Time: Please arrive by 830am to begin registration. We will start promptly at 9am. With the exception of a couple people, most legislative visits will be finished by a little after 3pm, and those who are able can then head over to the Grange Restaurant and Bar at the Citizen Hotel(a 5 minute walk from the Capitol) for a no-host Happy Hour whenever finished.

Where: Capitol Event Center 1020 11 St., Sacramento 95814

Parking: there are many public garages in the area. The closest garage is Capitol Garage on 10th and L. See attached PDF which shows the event center relative to parking, the Capitol, and the Citizen Hotel.

Content: From 9am-12pm, we will discuss our strategy for 2020 and 2021 re: removal of supervision, will get to know the bill we are co-sponsoring this session (and will have a presentation by Nourbese Flint, the policy director at Black Women for Wellness and one of our fellow co-sponsors for SB 464), learn how to lobby, and then break for lunch.

Lunch: will be a catered box lunch. If the it's a nice sunny day, feel free to take your lunch to the beautiful Capitol lawn. 

Legislator visits: with the exception of one noon visit, the majority of legislator visits occur between 1p-430p

Info Packets: We will provide you with a packet of information the day of, including everything you need to give to your legislators

Focus of lobbying efforts: 

The focus of our lobbying efforts for the day is the bill CNMA is co-sponsoring, which is SB 464, the California Maternal Dignity in Pregnancy Act. Please see attached fact sheet and, if interested the actual bill can be read here. Additionally, we cannot forget to use this opportunity to explain that regulatory barriers to nurse-midwifery, such as physician supervision, significantly impact access to nurse-midwives and growth of our profession. Linking this back to SB 464 and maternal mortality for women of color, the overwhelming evidence supports investing in and expanding midwifery as one tool to reduce the disparities gap. 

Please prepare ahead of time with the following: 

Please watch this lobbying "how to" video from ACOG. It's worth your time. Bottom line: be punctual,  be prepared, be professional and polite, announce the name of your organization, use short personal stories and experiences, don't get off message, and leave information behind/offer to be a resource.  I would also add: keep it short and keep it simple, you only have about 10 minutes. 

Read the attached information on SB 464 Know who your Senator and Assembly Member are in terms of party affiliation and personal histories. A google search of their member page will reveal their interests and previous pertinent legislative wins. Know whether they are on the Business and Professions Committee or Health Committee for the Assembly or Senate. These are key committees that will always hear nurse-midwifery related bills. Finally, think about a key argument in favor of expanding nurse-midwifery based on whether you visit a Democrat or Republican. Republicans are typically interested in fiscal effects and health care costs, deregulation, and competition. Democrats typically want to hear about impact on issues of justice, provider choice, and health care access and outcomes.  If interested, read the background paper from last year's bill, AB 2682, (attached) to jog your memory on supervision removal, health disparities, and work force issues. Please remember this is old information, with an old bill number from last year, so don't distribute to your legislators.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email/call/text me. 

I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday! 

Holly Smith

advocacy@cnma.org