Important Letter from the President of ATOM

Dear ATOM Member:

It is that time of year again when we are trying to gain legislative support for two pieces of legislation relative to the practice of Athletic Training.  As you know our “Consumer Access to Healthcare” bill stalled in committee last session.    Our practice act changes, S1832 made it to a final committee before it was opposed and stalled due to the end of the official legislative session.  

It was thanks to all of you, the sponsor of our bill Senator Mike Rush, our lobbyist, the ATOM executive board and our Governmental Affairs people that our bill achieved that much success.   We are finally getting some attention and making some noise up on the hill.  So much so that our opposition had to resort to a letter containing disingenuous and inaccurate information in their portrayal of what an AT is capable of and our education level, to combat our progress.  

It is time to refile again for the next session.  The filing date is January 21, 2015.    The “Consumer Access to Healthcare” legislation language is staying the same.  Our legislation to update the practice act, S1832 last year, has changed a bit to clean up the language and better reflect current practices of Athletic Trainers.  

WE NEED YOR HELP!  We need all of our members to call their legislators to schedule meeting, preferable before the end of the year or just after the new year.  We need you to ask them to sign on as a co-sponsor of the legislation.  Please ask all of your family, friends and colleagues to do the same.  The more names on the legislation, the better the chance we have of being successful.   When meeting with your legislators you can reference the fact that the lead sponsor is Senator Michael Rush and that the language is similar to S1832.  Once the language has been finalized by Senator Rush, has been filed and received a bill number we will forward that information to you and have it available on our website.  

This endeavor will not be successful without all of your help.  We have made remarkable progress over the last two years.  Let’s keep the momentum going.  This legislation affects all Athletic Trainers in the state.  Let’s help make Massachusetts a better place for Athletic Trainers to practice.    

Please contact your legislator immediately to ask for their support and request that they co-sponsor the proposed legislation.  When you contact your legislator and have a meeting please send me an email letting me know what legislator was contacted and the results of the meeting /discussion.  We are trying to keep track of all legislators contacted.  

If you do not know who your legislator is you may visit this link to find out.  https://malegislature.gov/People/Search.  For text of last year’s legislation language see the www.athletictrainersofmass.org website.  

Again I understand we all have precious little time available when we are not working but I urge you to take the time to help support this legislation.  It could change the face of athletic training in this state.  

Thank you for your time,

Kathleen P Thornton, MS LAT

President Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts