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Ponl legislation and advocacy


Visiting Your legislator? Be prepared with the PONL Handout for Legislative Visits


Recent Activity

Read the notes submitted by Mary O'Connor here and see the update for the Nurse Licensure Compact below:

PONL Update - ACT 68 Nurse Licensure Compact

Two bills need to pass both chambers & be signed into law by Gov Shapiro before the SBN can implement Act 68:

SB1165 Allowing Pennsylvania to Fully Implement Interstate Licensure Compacts

Sponsors:

BOSCOLAFONTANALAUGHLIN and J. WARD

Printer's No.(PN): 1534*

Short Title:

An Act amending Title 63 (Professions and Occupations (State Licensed)) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in powers and duties, providing for criminal history background checks.

Actions:

PN 1534

Referred to CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE, April 22, 2024

Reported as committed, April 30, 2024

Re-reported as committed, May 7, 2024

Senate Calendar-BILLS ON THIRD CONSIDERATION

Senate Session Days

Scheduled Session Days 

2024

June 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 

Bipartisan sponsorship:

Lisa BOSCOLA (Dem Lehigh Valley) Minority Chair Cons. Prot. & Prof. Licensure  

Wayne D. Fontana (Dem -Pgh)

Daniel Laughlin (Rep- Erie) Majority Policy Committee Chair & 

J. WARD (Rep-Blair, etc)Committee

—————-

HB 2200  FBI-Approved Language to Implement Licensure Compacts

An Act amending Title 63 (Professions and Occupations (State Licensed) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in powers and duties, providing for criminal history background checks.

Sponsors:

BURNSVENKATGIRALDONAHUEGUENSTABNEYSCHLOSSBERGROZZIT. DAVISMARCELLSANCHEZNEILSONSHUSTERMANBRENNAND. WILLIAMS and WAXMAN

Printer's No. (PN):

2889*

Short Title:

Actions:

Third consideration and final passage, April 30, 2024 (200-0)

House Bill 2200 PN 2889 - Report Bill As Committed

Scheduled Session Days

2024

Session Days remaining- June 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28

Meeting with your legislator? See some talking points from our original PONL Position Statement in support of PA becoming part of the nurse licensure compact.

Take Action!

As you now know, the House passed the Nurse Ratio Bill, by a vote of 119-84.  

Now the bill will go to the Senate and discussions could potentially begin in September. Some states that had similar deiscussions regarding ratios came away without a Ratio Bill, but rather an agreement that staffing committees would be established in their hospitals.

Read the PONL Legislative Visit talking points here.

We need some information from YOU! Using this link, please tell us if your hospital has a staffing committee or not - it will take you less than two minutes and will help us know how to best serve you. We welcome any additional detail you can provide us, too!

During the summer I urge all of us to contact our State Senators since they could be more available at their home offices. If you do not know who your legislators are, please use this handy link to find out: Find Your Legislators. Thank you for your advocacy on this very critical issue.

Please make use of the talking points supporting our stance that can be found on the Legislative page of the PONL website.

If you have additional questions, please contact Rosa Hickey by email or phone at 717-487-0911.

Rosa Hickey, MSN, RN, NEA-BC | PONL Legislative Committee Chair

House HEALTH Committee Vote meeting June 6, 2023 HB106 Patient Safety Act of 2023, Sponsored by Mehaffie, Tomlinson, and  Kosierowski  Regular Session 2023-2024 House Bill 0106 P.N. 1462 (state.pa.us)

YouTube video of live-streamed House HEALTH Committee mtg 6/6/2023:  https://pahouse.com/live#Health

Bills in the Pennsylvania Legislature during the 118th Legislative Session
(2023-2024)

1. Nurse Staffing Practices & Ratios

PONL Opposes HB 106 “The Patient Safety Act” (Mehaffie, Tomlinson & Kosierowski) & SB 247 (Senator Collett)

PONL is strongly committed to nurse staffing practices that support the provision of safe patient care. PONL endorses the autonomy of each healthcare organization to establish appropriate strategies to deliver high levels of patient care by providing safe, effective, and collaborative staffing practices. PONL is adamantly opposed to any legislation that would mandate nurse-to-patient ratios for all heath care organizations.

Read PONL's Position Statement on Nurse Staffing Practices & Ratios (updated April 2023).

2. Telemedicine

PONL Supports

    3. Full Practice Authority for Nurse Practitioners

    PONL Supports

    • SB 25 "Modernization of the Professional Nursing Law" (Bartolotta and Boscolo [Senate])

    View more details and provide your support.

    Workplace Violence Bills Introduced to U.S. Congress

    PONL Supports 

    PONL Does Not Support*
    • S.1176 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act Baldwin [D-WI]   | Referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, April 18, 2023
    • H.R. 2663 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act Courtney [D-CT-2] | Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, April 18, 2023

    (*RATIONALE for non-support: The OSHA Mandate duplicates The Joint Commission’s Workplace Violence Prevention standard effective January 2022. These two Workplace Violence bills duplicate that which is already required.  Therefore, PONL Supports the SAVE Acts.)

    PONL Monitoring

    Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC)  Act 68 of 2021 Partially implemented Sept. 5, 2023 - see update above

    • Partial implementation began Sept. 5, 2023 —registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who reside in NLC states other than Pennsylvania and hold an active multistate license may practice and provide nursing services in Pennsylvania in-person or via telehealth. These nurses, who also hold a Pennsylvania single state license, may stop renewing it.
    • Nurses who reside in Pennsylvania cannot apply for a multistate license until NLC full implementation is completed. The date NLC implementation in Pennsylvania will be completed is unknown. When an implementation date is known, it will be posted or publicized by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing. (NCSBN https://www.nursecompact.com/files/NLC_Map.pdf)

    MSL Compact Structured Exception Process No Longer Required!

    UPDATED November 2023

    Source: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/facilities/Pages/Nurse-Licensure-Compact.aspx [health.pa.gov]

    “The facility-specific guidance published by the Department in August 2023 has been rescinded.

    MSL Compact Structured Exception Process No Longer Required

    Effective immediately, pursuant to the determination that RNs and LPNs that hold an active MSL should be treated as if they possess an RN or LPN license issued by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing, a health care facility seeking to employ or contract with RNs and LPNs holding an active MSL license will not require an exception or further approval by the Department to do so.

    For this reason, facilities no longer need to use the MSL Compact Structured Exception process that was announced in August 2023. Over the next few weeks, facilities that utilized that process will receive a letter from the appropriate Department Division indicating that the MSL Compact Structured Exception approval has been rescinded. Facilities that were not able or chose not to utilize the MSL Compact Exception process may employ or contract with RNs and LPNs holding an active MSL license without further notice to or approval by the Department.”

          PONL Legislative Committee Members

          Rosa Hickey, Chair
          Andrew Thum, Co-Chair

          Committee Members:

          • Carol Amann
          • Angela Brown
          • Heidi Dewitt Zedlar
          • Fiona Felton
          • Tina Roma Fisher
          • Denise Frasca
          • Carol Ann Gioia
          • Kimberly Kennedy



          • Jessica Lazzeri
          • Deborah Lidey
          • Joan Madalone
          • Jessica Nardi
          • Mary O'Connor
          • Glenn Repko
          • Kathy Sankovich
          • Deb Thompson
          • Cathy Weidman
          © Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders

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          Pittsburgh, PA 15228

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