Nationwide State Legislative Agenda, 2007-2008 Reports

Welcome to the State Legislative Trends Summary. Highlighted are ten state legislative trends ANA is promoting across the country as part of its Nationwide State Legislative Agenda.

This is the ninth year Constituent Member (state nurses) Associations (CMAs) have worked in coordination with ANA to implement a Nationwide State Legislative Agenda that focuses on prohibition of mandatory overtime; mandatory development and implementation of valid and reliable nurse staffing systems; whistleblower protections for nurses who want to report unsafe conditions without retribution; mandatory collection of nursing supply and demand data for state nursing workforce projections; funding for nursing education; protection of the title "nurse" thereby protecting the public against those who are not nurses but identify themselves as such; requiring health care facilities to develop programs to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders and eliminate manual patient handling; elimination of mercury in health care devices; and collection of patient outcomes most affected by nursing care.

ANA's State Government Affairs program monitors over 2,000 health care bills affecting nursing and the general public as part of the “Nationwide State Legislative Agenda”. The sources for legislative updates include StateScape Tracking Service. Lexis-Nexis and information reported to ANA by state nurses associators.

Since this summary serves as a quick reference, readers are encouraged to access the accompanying full reports for each category in order to determine the legislative approach taken by each state. Periodic updates are provided.

To date through August 28, 2008, state legislators responded with the establishment of laws / regulations / resolutions as follows:

Elimination of Mercury in the Health Care Setting –

Prohibit use of mercury in thermometers in 15 states:

  • CA, CT, IL, IN, LA, ME, MD,MA, MI, MN, NH, NJ*, NY, OR, RI, WA
    NJ legislation does not apply to thermometers used in health care

Prohibit the sale and distribution of mercury in medical products in 9 states:

  • LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, NH, NY, VT, WA

Restrict the use of Thimerosal in vaccines in 4 states:

  • DE, IL, NM, WA

Restriction in Use of Mandatory Overtime—in 14 states:

  • CT, IL, MD, MN, NH, NJ, NY, OR, RI, WA, WV;   CA, MO, TX (regulations)

Nursing Education—enacted in at least 31 states in 2007:

  • AL, AR, CO, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IA, KS, LA, MN, MI, MS, MO,NE, NM, NY, NC, ND, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WV
    More than two thirds of states have enacted legislation during the past 5 years in support of nursing education. The states listed above reflect those states that have committed funds during the 2007 legislative session to help infuse more nurses into the health care system through scholarships, loan forgiveness programs and expansion of nursing programs, including increasing faculty.

Nursing Quality Indicators—in 5 states:

  • CO, CT, ME, RI; TX [regulations] ; FL passed legislation to study (1996)

Nurse Staffing Plans and Ratios—enacted legislation/adopted regulations in 13 states plus DC:

  • CA, CT, FL, IL, NJ, OH, OR, RI, VT, WA; TX [regulations];
  • states requiring staffing plans include: CT, IL, OH, OR, RI, TX, WA
  • states requiring disclosure: NJ, VT
  • DC and ME* - changed from orginal intent; currently without a staffing mandate
  • NV - legislation required a study

*Nursing Workforce Data Collection—in 40 states:

  • AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, MD, ME, MA, MI, MS, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI

Safe Patient Handling and Movement — enacted in 8 states:

  • MD, MN, NJ, NY, OH, RI, TX, WA; plus HI [resolution]

Title "Nurse" Protection— statutory protections in at least 24 states:

  • AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, KY, ID, MD, MN, MO, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, ND, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, WA, WV, WI

Whistleblower Protection—in 20 states:

  • AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, ME, MD, MI, NV, NJ, NY, OR, TX, UT, VT, VA, and WV
    * refer to the report for specific protections. 

Workplace Violence—in 14 states:

  • IL, ME, NJ, NY, OR, WA, WV ;   HI (resolution)
  • AL, AZ, CO, HI, IL, NV, NC, and NM each responded with increased penalties for violence affecting nurses.

Every effort is made to provide a comprehensive and accurate summary, however omissions are possible.

Questions should be directed to ANA’s Government Affairs program at gova@ana.org.