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 eighth 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 1,000 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.

To date through March 26th,  2008, state legislators responded with the establishment of laws/regulations as follows:

Elimination of Mercury in the Health Care Setting – enacted:

Prohibiting 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

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

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

Restricting the use of Thimerosal in vaccines in 4 states:

  • DE, IL*, NM, WA
    * awaiting governor’s signature as of 8/15/07

Prohibition of Mandatory Overtime - enacted legislation/adopted regulations in 14 states:

  • CA, MO, TX [regulations], CT, IL, ME, MD, MN, NH, NJ, OR, RI, WA, WV

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 - Enacted legislation/adopted regulations in 5 states:

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

Nurse Staffing Plans and Ratios - enacted legislation/adopted regulations in 11 states plus DC:

  • CA, FL, IL, NJ, OR, RI, VT, WA; TX [regulations], NV+; DC and ME*
    + represents legislation requiring a study
    * legislation was either waived or modified from that which was enacted

Nursing Workforce Data Collection - enacted / adopted in 38 states:

  • AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, MD, ME, MA, MI, MS, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OK, OR, PA, 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; HI [resolution]

Title "Nurse" Protection - enacted in 21 states:

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

Whistleblower Protection - enacted in 19 states:

  • AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MI, NV, NJ, NY, OR, TX, UT, VA, VT, WV, WI*
    * protections apply only to government employees when lawfully reporting information
Workplace Violence - enacted in 13 states:
  • IL, ME, NJ, NY, OR, and WA;  HI (resolution)
  • AL, AZ, CO, IL, NV, NC, and NM each responded with increased penalties for violence affecting nurses.

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. 

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.