Legislative Action

The Texas Legislature meets biennially and is scheduled to reconvene in January 2009. During the legislative interim, committees of the Texas Senate and House of representatives are charged with researching and assessing key issues as designated by the Lt. Governor and Speaker of the Texas House. In preparation for the 2009 legislative session:

• The House Committees on Border and International Affairs and Public Health and the House Committee on Appropriations have been tasked with the ongoing analysis of state health workforce shortages and the development of strategies to combat supply challenges and ensure adequate health care⁷
• The Senate Health and Human Services Committee has been tasked with assessing options for improving nursing graduation rates in Texas⁸
• The Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Committee on International Relations and Trade have been tasked with the ongoing analysis of state health workforce shortages and the development of strategies to combat supply challenges and ensure adequate health care, particularly for primary care providers in underserved regions⁹

Look for the Texas Nurse Association to begin organizing the Nursing Legislative Agenda Coalition (NLAC) 2009 towards the end of 2008. NLAC will identify the key nursing issues to focus on in the upcoming legislative session and will work collaboratively to achieve consensus across nursing organizations.

More information on nursing related legislation from the 2007 session can be found in the October 2007 Texas Board of Nursing Bulletin. http://www.bon.state.tx.us/about/pdfs/oct07.pdf

• Houston Workforce Issues in the News
• Hospital News Impacting the Workforce
• Academic Updates: Nurturing the Next Generation
• Legislative Action
• The Ideal Hospital Project’s, Work Environment Survey 2007-2008, Annual Report