The state of Iowa made the news in February for becoming the next state facing deregulation, keyword being “next”. Their state legislature introduced a bill on February 21 that posed to eliminate several licensing boards, among them Iowa’s Board of Respiratory Care.
After this news broke, practitioners across the country hit social media expressing both shock that this was happening (again) as well as support for Iowa. The NJSRC received several requests for additional information. Those requests were posted to our website and social media accounts.
Remarkably, days later, the IASRC President announced that the bill was dead. Good news, to be sure, but it was a swift and scary roller coaster ride for our colleagues in Iowa. While the outcome was certainly the desired one, it certainly should prompt thoughts as to whether this could happen in New Jersey. The short answer is, yes, why not? Currently, we only monitor activity in Trenton. We’re not nearly as well organized as Iowa. This means if something like this were to happen, our reaction could be delayed. How can I prevent this delayed response from occurring? The answer is to engage with the society, respond to our call for action requests, attend meetings, etc.
Elections are upcoming and we need advocates for our profession to engage and defend the relevance of our profession. Contact us for other ways you can get involved!
