Missouri colleagues,

I want to provide you with a legislative update regarding HB 1426. As you probably know, HB 1426 was introduced, first and second read then referred to Professional Licensure and Registration committee. What you might not know is we had our public hearing this past Wednesday, April 21, 2021.

Our bill sponsor, Rep Jeff Porter did a fantastic job introducing the bill before the committee. We were rather limited on time, with our hearing beginning at 0800 and only an hour to hear two bills. Although that does not sound too bad, the House was having a Republican caucus, so the committee adjourned promptly at 0900.

We were able to provide some excellent testimony with only one organization that testified in opposition and one testifying for informational purposes. The testimony in opposition was from our usual, CRNA/anesthesiologist groups. We continue to work closely with these groups.

Our lobbyists believe we will have a House vote sometime week. However, once the bill gets voted out of the House it then goes to the Senate where we start all over again. With the end of the session coming quickly, May 15th, our next hope is to amend HB 1426 onto another moving healthcare bill.

ASRT will be sending out an email blast soon so look for that. This email will be a “Call to Action” where we will ask you to begin contacting your legislators asking for their support when the bill comes to the floor.

I ask for your continued effort as we get closer to the end of the session. Keep an eye on the website where I will post updates. Thank you, I am still hopeful we will get over the finish line this session.

With gratitude,

Diane Hutton BA, RT(R) ARRT

MoSRT Legislative Chair