From the Capitol

Things are moving quickly at the Kansas Capitol. Here's the Bottom Lines Up Front:

1. A bill is moving that would place a portion of CNM practice under the Board of Healing Arts (Board of Medicine) for regulation.
2. The CNM community is seeking support in keeping the bill from becoming law.
3. This bill has negative implications for NPs and other APRNs, and our patients.

What Now?:
Our AANP Kansas state NP organization members are helping lead efforts to hold the bill from advancing. They have urgently requested that APRNs reach out and share concerns on these bills by Thursday afternoon. Message points they are using are below. You can find your legislator by using your zip code here.

Message points:
Please consider "vote no on HB 2732/SB 402" or "oppose HB 2732/SB402" on the subject line if you write your own note.

• HB2732/SB402 is not the right solution to the licensure and health care access needs in the state.
• HB2732/SB402 sets up new, confusing and costly dual regulatory oversight that will not improve access or bring more CNMs to the state.
• HB 2732/SB402 is out of step with national trends, and would move KS backwards.
• There is NO research supporting this Bill.
• Kansas is trying to find ways to cut government spending, right-size regulation and improve care. This bill does none of that.

The APRN community is committed to finding the solutions our state needs. Please vote no on HB2732/SB402, and let's look for the better option together.

Background & Why This Matters:
Last Friday, the House Health and Human Services Committee Chair introduced HB2732 and has already been voted out of committee. The bill is anticipated to be voted on the House floor within the next several days. The legislation would move the delivery portion of Certified Nurse Midwives practice under the regulation of the Board of Healing Arts (Board of Medicine). Instead of maintaining regulation under the Board of Nursing with collaborative agreement with an individual physician, the Board of Healing Arts would establish and control all regulatory requirements and disciplinary action for CNM delivery practice. Similar bill language has been added to SB402.

As many of you know, the CNM community has been part of the APRN bill to retire collaborative agreement requirements AND ran a separate bill just the CNMs. HB2732 has been put forward as a compromise to the CNM's bill; but the CNMs community was not involved in the drafting HB 2732 and are actively opposing the bill.

If passed, HB2732 would set the precedent that APRN practice in Kansas have Board of Healing Arts oversight. The Kansas APRN community has been successful in retaining regulatory oversight of advanced practice nursing under the Board of Nursing in the past two sessions. If HB2732 were to become law, maintaining exclusive Board of Nursing oversight and obtaining right-sized regulation of advanced nursing practice would become even harder. Exclusive oversight of APRN practice is the national standard and consistent with the Consensus Model.

Thank you for your engagement. I'll keep you updated on bill action. Please consider sharing this update with your fellow APRNs.

Michelle Knowles
AANP Kansas State Representative
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