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SOUTH CAROLINA For the entire two-year term of the legislature, nutrition and dietetics were on the tongues of all South Carolina lawmakers. Senate Bill 103 4sponsored by Senators Robert Hayes of Rock Hill and Dick Elliott of North Myrtle Beach 4lay dormant in the House of Representatives for almost all of last year with a flurry of activity coming late in the session. In early May of this year, The Coalition made some swift procedural moves in Columbia to slow the sudden momentum of SB 103.

The result was an awakening of the natural health community in opposition to the bill. Our collective opposition led to the inclusion of favorable amendments that protected consumer access to nutrition services and the delivery of nutrition services by individuals not wishing to be licensed as dietitians. Governor Mark Sanford vetoed SB 103 when it reached his desk, but the legislature quickly overrode the veto.

We at The Coalition are pleased with the outcome of this legislation. COLORADO Colorado began the year with a great deal of promise for health freedom. Representative Paul Weissmann of Boulder and Senator Steve Johnson of Fort Collins introduced House Bill 1170, the Colorado Health Freedom Act .

The bill hit a ... more. less.

few bumps early but with the assistance of the Sunshine Health Freedom Foundation, Colorado Coalition for Natural Health, and the Colorado Health Freedom Coalition, it passed the House in April with relative ease. Although we weren 9t completely satisfied with the version of the bill that passed the House, we felt we could make the necessary changes in the Senate. When the bill passed the House, there were only a few days left in the session, so the Senate had to move quickly to address with the bill. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard the bill on April 27 and voted to postpone the bill indefinitely, a move that effectively killed the bill for the session. Long story short: a majority of the committee was under a lot of pressure from licensed health professions to defeat the bill and, with this being an election year, we could not overcome the pressure. We are currently evaluating the 2007 Legislature for re- introduction. In addition, The Coalition expects restrictive licensing legislation from special interest groups, such as the naturopathic physicians and the massage therapists, to be introduced next year. We will monitor these proposed laws closely. ILLINOIS Illinois is in its second year of the natural health fight. Special interest groups are working to pass restrictive licensing legislation to restrict natural health freedoms. Senator Antonio Munoz of Chicago introduced a bill to license naturopathic physicians. The bill died in committee and we expect a new bill to be introduced in 2007. MICHIGAN Michigan is the newest state to the health freedom debate. After 15 years of failure, a special interest group has succeeded in moving a licensing bill through the legislature and it was signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm . Senator Laura Toy of Livonia introduced Senate Bill 403 which restricts the usage of cdietitian d and cnutritionist, d but does not restrict the dissemination of nutrition information to consumers. The good news is that help is on the way! Representative Leslie Mortimer of Jackson introduced the Michigan Health Freedom Act , House Bill 5918. The bill has already had a preliminary meeting where parties discussed the merits of the legislation. Representative Mortimer is currently redrafting the legislation based on comments she received at the meeting. The Coalition expects the redraft to be ready at the end of the summer and we are hopeful that we can progress through the legislature this year. The Michigan legislature meets throughout the year. UTAH Utah also got into the health freedom movement for the first time this year as Representative Bradley Daw of Orem introduced House Bill 136, the Utah Health Freedom Act . The bill generated a great deal of discussion in the natural health community. Ultimately, HB 136 died when the legislature adjourned, but hopefully the seeds have been planted for health freedom. The Coalition is currently evaluating the 2007 Legislature for re-introduction. TENNESSEE The Tennessee State Legislature entertained two identical restrictive licensing bills this session. Senator Tim Burchett of Knoxville introduced Senate Bill 3269 and Representative John Mark Windle of Livingston introduced Senate Bill 3164. Both bills were assigned to policy committees in their respective chambers but were never heard in committee and eventually died when the legislature adjourned. The Coalition expects similar legislation to be introduced in 2007. MINNESOTA As we reported in 2005, House File 2312, introduced by Representative Neva Walker of Minneapolis , remained alive through the 2006 legislative session. The bill would have been very damaging to the natural health community as it sought to license naturopathic physicians. Fortunately, the bill died when the legislative session ended. However, The Coalition fully expects new legislation to be introduced in 2007. NEW YORK For the second year in a row, Senator Dale Volker of Depew, and Assemblymember Sam Hoyt of Buffalo , each introduced bills to license cnaturopathic physicians. d Senate Bill 1617 passed out the Senate Committee on Higher Education but the bill languished on the floor of the Senate when the legislature recessed in late June. Assembly bill 5208 was scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Committee on Higher Education in early June but, through aggressive action by The Coalition , the Chairman removed from the bill from the Committee 9s agenda. The bill died when the legislature recessed. The Coalition expects legislation to be re-introduced in 2007. VIRGINIA The Commonwealth was a hotbed of activity early in the year as three pieces of legislation were debated involving the natural health field. The Consumer Health Freedom Bill , Senate Bill 422, was introduced by Senator Louise Lucas of Portsmouth and the bill was heard by the Senate Committee on Education and Health. Many thanks to the Sunshine Health Freedom Foundation in general, and Becky Hanks in particular, for all of their efforts in support of health freedom. In addition, two bills to license cnaturopathic physicians d were introduced. Senator Philip Puckett of Tazewell introduced Senate Bill 517, and Delegate Clarence Phillips of Castlewood introduced House Bill 1389. Neither of these bills was heard by their respective policy committees. These two licensing bills, and the Consumer Health Freedom Bill, were continued for discussion in 2007 by their respective committees. MISSOURI The Missouri State Legislature entertained two legislative instruments regarding the licensing of natural health in 2006. Senator Maida Coleman of St. Louis introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 23 which called for the state to create a licensing board for cnaturopathic physicians. d SCR 23 passed the Senate Rules Committee and died on the Senate floor. Senator Coleman also introduced Senate Bill 1213 which was scheduled to be heard in April, but at the last minute, on the morning of the hearing, the bill was removed from the agenda and never heard. The Coalition expects similar legislation to be introduced in 2007. FLORIDA Florida again provided a lot of excitement this year. The year began with discussions with the State 9s naturopathic physicians to try and produce a consensus bill. However, due to a breakdown in negotiations, a consensus bill was never introduced. Subsequently, Senator Daniel Webster of Winter Garden , introduced Senate Bill 2678 to license naturopathic physicians. The Senate Health Care Committee conducted a hearing on SB 2678 in late April and the bill was defeated in committee by a vote of c2-6. d Many thanks to those Senators who opposed this restrictive licensing bill. We expect the same sort of ill-advised legislation to be introduced in 2007. LOUISIANA The Louisiana Health Freedom Coalition took steps in 2006 to build upon last year 9s success when they passed Senate Bill 189. Senator Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge stepped up to the plate and introduced Senate Bill 451, a bill to broaden the scope of last year 9s act by including lifestyle modifications. Although Senate Bill 451 passed the legislature and was signed by the Governor, it contained a few last second amendments with which The Coalition is not completely enamored. However, for the time being, in the name of good faith, we at The Coalition will tolerate the amendments and will monitor the interpretation and enforcement of these provisions. OHIO In 1995, A real friend of natural health freedoms, Representative Linda Reidelbach of Columbus , introduced House Bill 117 4 The Freedom of Access Bill . We support the passage of this bill and are assisting the Health Freedom Coalition of Ohio in its effort to pass it. The bill remains alive until the end of the 2006 legislative session. The Coalition will monitor actions on the bill and continue to support its passage. CNH CNH CNH STATE-BY-STATE WITH Coalition for Natural Health Promoting Natural Health Freedom Protecting Natural Health Practitioners Hello, friends! If you 9re like me, over the last few weeks you 9ve been inundated with political information, infomercials, and advertisements&the vast majority of which relate to the up- coming election. On our way to work we listen to political pundits letting us know the real inside scoop on the race (in other words, all the other political pundits either got it wrong, or their read on the race is woefully obsolete!). At work, our co- workers and/or clients are only too happy to impart their unique slant on the race, why their preferred candidate is the answer to our problems and why the other guy is a heathen not to be trusted with balancing his own checkbook, let alone our tax money! Coming back home, driving through our neighborhood we see campaign signs in our neighbors 9 yards ( cI didn 9t know Bill Stevenson was Democrat/Republican& d we think to ourselves); and back in the comfort of our own living room we listen as Katie Couric and Brian Williams remind us that this might be the most important election of our generation. And Brian and Katie are right&this election is very important. We should get out and vote on November 7. But that 9s not really anything that you didn 9t already know, is it? Not really the stuff that cSTOP THE PRESSES!!! d is made of. We all know that it 9s our civic duty to vote in elections. And because we work in a field that is politically sensitive, it 9s especially incumbent upon us to know where the candidates stand on natural health issues and to cast our votes accordingly. But, like I said earlier, this isn 9t anything you didn 9t already know. My message to you in this special edition is that our political education, awareness, and activity shouldn 9t be limited to a two or three month period once every two or four years&nor should it be limited to election cycles. We should have our finger on the political pulse of our own respective states 365 days a year& every year. You see, our elected public officials 4in particular, our state legislators 4are at work all the time. Even when our state 9s legislature isn 9t in session our state senators and representatives are making plans. And many of those plans have to do with health care&natural health care in particular. There 9s an old saying with which many of you are familiar: cThe squeaky wheel gets the grease. d While being skillful and respectful, we need to be squeaky wheels with our elected officials. We need to let them know&and not only during election season&that natural health is the basis of our livelihood and that natural health freedoms are essential to our practices, our clients, and our families. And there doesn 9t necessarily have to be legislative imperative for you to call, write, or even visit in person your state legislator. Many of us live in states where their elected official is fairly accessible, and lawmakers listen to constituents who live in their district. As such, just dropping a line to your representative to let him/her know that natural health freedom is important to you puts the issue on his/her cradar screen. d Then, if there arises a legislative imperative, the seeds for a personal relationship will be sewn. So, let 9s all be sure to vote in November 9s election&and let 9s then carry that momentum throughout the year! Inside, you will find updates from states where legislative activity occurred in 2006. More details inside... Walking the Walk! The Coalition for Natural Health is the premier natural health advocacy group in the nation. CNH combines grassroots activism with professional lobbying expertise to produce effective legislative action. No other group comes close to matching The Coalition 9s accomplishments. Since its founding in 1996, The Coalition has worked to promote natural health freedom and protect practitioners 9 rights in more than 30 states: "Testifying in state legislatures; "Mobilizing grass roots support; "Organizing effective lobbying campaigns; "Building relationships with legislators and decision-makers. The Coalition has been instrumental in the success of every natural health freedom law that has passed state legislatures since 1996. No other natural health organization can make that statement. We have also protected health freedom by defeating bills in more than 20 states that would have severely limited the rights of natural health practitioners. Some people talk the talk. At The Coalition we walk the walk. If you believe natural health freedom is worth fighting for, join the most effective natural health action group in the United States. Walk the walk with The Coalition for Natural Health . FOR MEMBERS ONLY! 0906 Thank You for Helping Protect Natural Health Freedom! T HE J OURNALOF N ATURAL H EALINGBYTHE C OALITIONFOR N ATURAL H EALTH , I NC . FIRST CLASS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Coalition for Natural Health THE COALITION FOR NATURAL HEALTH, INC. PMB 100-408 1220 L STREET N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-4018 Return Service Requested

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