Submit Testimony for WI Public Hearing, 3/3 at 10am.

A public hearing has just been scheduled for March 3^rd at 10 am for the Complementary and Alternative Health Care Practitioners Exemption bill (SB 98/AB 86) in the Senate Insurance, Licensing and Forestry Committee!  Please click here to write to your own legislators asking them to support the bill.  Then, please prepare and submit testimony in support of the bill too (details below).

When passed, Wisconsin will join eleven other states in protecting the thousands of wonderful complementary and alternative practitioners who are providing great services to health seekers in Wisconsin.  To refresh your memory: This bill was introduced last session (2019 AB 546/SB 492). It passed the Assembly Health Committee, the Assembly floor and the Senate Committee on Health before stalling in the Senate due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, this legislation was moved aside and was not addressed before the end of the legislative session.

What the Bill Does:
SB 98/AB 86 is a bill to protect your access to services provided by practitioners of complementary and alternative health in Wisconsin such as herbalists, traditional naturopaths, nutritional consultants, homeopaths, Reiki practitioners and many more.  This exemption bill will make it possible for practitioners to provide their services without fear of being charged with practice of medicine without a license as long as they avoid a list of prohibited acts in the bill such as the use of prescription drugs, or puncture of the skin, and as long as they give out proper disclosures.

What you can do:

1. Take Action here to send a message of support for SB 98/AB 86 to your personal legislators.  Please take the time to write a personal note on your letter as this will have a greater impact with the legislator or send the letter we have provided. Start building a relationship with your personal Senate and Assembly Representatives.

2. Call your legislators to leave a message reiterating your support of SB 98/AB 86.Identify who your legislators are here by entering you address in the box under “Who are my legislators?” and click “Find your Legislator”.  Use their contact info to leave a message with each office letting them know why you support SB 98/AB 86.

Note: if your legislator is a sponsor of the bill, say Thank You!  Current sponsor and cosponsors of the bill include 14 Representatives (Dittrich, Horlacher, Kitchens, Murphy, Mursau, Schraa, Skowronski, Wichgers, Zimmerman, Callahan, Edming, Sortwell, Moses and Rozar) and 3 Senators (Felzkowski, Kooyenga and Bernier).
The message for your personal legislators: “As a constituent of [Senator/Assemblymember] [Insert Legislator’s Last Name] I want [him/her] to know that I support SB 98/AB 86, a bill Protecting Consumer Access to Complementary and Alternative Health Care Practitioners.  SB 98 has been scheduled for a hearing on March 3 in the Senate Insurance, Licensing and Forestry Committee.  Please tell the [Senator/Assemblymember] that I want [him/her] to please vote yes on the bill when it is heard on the floor of the [Senate/Assembly].

[Insert your own brief reason why you support access to complementary and alternative health care (i.e., I depend on complementary and alternative health care for myself and my family and I want Wisconsin law to protect my rights as a consumer to a free and educated choice in health care providers.)] Thank you.”

3. Prepare Your Testimony for the Committee. It’s so important for legislators to hear from the public on a bill.  Your story could be just what a legislator needs to hear in order to vote in favor of the bill. Written testimony should be given to the Committee in person but we can collect your written testimony and deliver it the day of the hearing.  Please send it to rosanne.lindsay@gmail.com and Nathan.Halbach@huschblackwell.com and we’ll deliver it to the committee for you. 

Note: Due to COVID restrictions and the size of the hearing room, the committee is requesting written testimony over in-person testimony.  They are not allowing virtual testimony at this time.  Therefore, your written testimony is that much more important.  A few sentences about why you support SB 98/AB 86 is all that’s needed.  Please draft and submit it asap.

4. Spread the word about SB 98/AB 86. Please forward this email to your friends and family so they can Take Action to support SB 98/AB 86 too.

THANK YOU for your commitment to Health Freedom!  If you have questions, contact us at info@nationalhealthfreedomaction.org