Saturday, February 11, 2012

Action Needed in Hawaii Opposing Dietitian Licensing Bill!

OPPOSE Hawaii:

Hawaii House Bill 2570 and Senate Bill 2832 are monopolistic dietitian bills that would make it illegal to “practice dietetics”, which is already defined so broadly in Hawaii to include using nutrition to achieve and maintain health. H.B. 2570 passed the House Health Committee and was referred to the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. S.B. 2832 was introduced and assigned to three Senate Committees, the first being the Senate Health Committee. Hawaii session will be complete in early May, so these bills may move fast!

What you can do:

First, contact your personal House Representative and all the members of the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee to let them know you Oppose H.B. 2570. Then, contact your Senator and all members of the Senate Health Committee to tell them to Vote no on S.B. 2832. Contact legislators by phone, email, or personal letter. All names and contact information are listed at the end of this email. Also, keep in touch to come to any future hearings.

What the Bill Does:

H.B. 2570 and S.B. 2832 would make criminal the practice of anything within the already broad definition of “dietetics”, which includes using nutrition principles to maintain human health! Although Hawaii already has protection for the title “dietitian”, H.B. 2570 and S.B. 2832 would unconstitutionally limit our freedom of speech and our freedom of choice in practitioners of natural health. Introduced to consolidate Hawaii laws and to move the licensing of registered dietitians as healthcare professionals from the Department of Health to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the bills limit herbalists, naturopaths, nutritional consultants, and even people like housewives who need to talk about food and herbs all the time. There is no reason for adding the illegality of “practice” of dietetics to this consolidation bill.

Contacting Legislators:

1. Distribute Call to Action Letter. Please sign the one-page action letter, or your own letter, and send by e-mail, fax, or regular mail to your personal Senate and House Representatives. Also, please forward this email to your friends and family to have them take action too. Telephone calls, emails or letters are extremely important at this time!

2. Contact Hawaii House and Senate Committee Members. Call the phone numbers listed below to leave a message with each member of both the HouseConsumer Protection and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health Committee. E-mail, fax or mail the attached action letter, or your own letter, to the committee members. Call from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 8 a.m. to adjournment on Saturdays.

The message : “I oppose H.B. 2570 / S.B. 2832 as written – it unconstitutionally limits our freedom of speech on nutrition information and decreases and jeopardizes consumer options in natural health care.”

3. When Contacting Personal and other Individual Senate and House Representatives:

If you write or e-mail , begin your communication with Dear Representative ____________: Include the bill number, for example: RE: Please Oppose H.B. 2570 / S.B. 2832.

Please take the time to write a personal note on your letter as this will have a greater impact with the legislators. Tell them about your rights as a consumer in Hawaii to a free and educated choice in health care providers. Also tell them that you depend on alternative and complementary care for you and your family.

Build a relationship with your personal Senate and House Representatives . Make an appointment, call them, write them and email them, and start building a strong relationship with them.

To determine who your personal Senate and House Representatives are, please go to http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/, and enter your street name in the box labeled “Find Your Legislator”, located in the upper right-hand corner, and click “GO”.

When Hearings are scheduled, please plan to attend.

THANK YOU for your commitment to Health Freedom! If you have questions, contact us at info@nationalhealthfreedom.org.

Members of the House Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce

Representative / House District

Phone

Fax

E-mail

Address

Robert N. Herkes (Chair; H.D. 5)

808-586-8400

808-586-8404

repherkes@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #320

Ryan Yamane (Vice Chair; H.D. 37)

808-586-6150

808-586-6151

repyamane@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #420

Tom Brower (H.D. 23)

808-586-8520

repbrower@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #315

Rida T.R. Cabanilla (H.D. 42)

808-586-6080

808-586-6081

repcabanilla@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #442

Mele Carroll (H.D. 13)

808-586-6790

808-586-6779

repcarroll@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #405

Denny Coffman (H.D. 6)

808-586-9605

808-586-9608

repcoffman@capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #317

Ken Ito (H.D. 48)

808-586-8470

808-586-8474

repito@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #432

Gilbert Keith-Agaran (H.D. 9)

808-586-6210

808-586-6211

repkeithagaran@capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #302

Sylvia Luke (H.D. 26)

808-586-8530

808-586-8534

repluke@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #332

Angus L.K. McKelvey (H.D. 10)

808-586-6160

808-586-6161

repmckelvey@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #427

Joseph M. Souki (H.D. 8)

808-586-9444

808-586-9499

repsouki@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #433

Clift Tsuji (H.D. 3)

808-586-8480

808-586-8484

reptsuji@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #402

Corinne W.L. Ching (H.D. 27)

808-586-9415

808-586-9421

repching@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #330

Barbara C. Marumoto (H.D. 19)

808-586-6310

808-586-6311

repmarumoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #304

Cynthia Thielen (H.D. 50)

808-586-6480

808-586-6481

repthielen@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #443

Members of the Senate Committee on Health

Senator / Senate District

Phone

Fax

Email

Address

Josh Green M.D. (Chair; 3)

808-586-9385

808-586-9391

sengreen@capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #222

Clarence K. Nishihara (Vice Chair; 18)

808-586-6970

808-586-6879

sennishihara@capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #204

Rosalyn H. Baker (5)

808-586-6070

808-586-6071

senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #230

Suzanne Chun Oakland (13)

808-586-6130

808-586-6131

senchunoakland@capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #226

Maile Shimabukuro (21)

808-586-7793

808-586-7797

senshimabukuro@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #223

Sam Slom (8)

808-586-8420

808-586-8426

senslom@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #214

Glenn Wakai (15)

808-586-8585

808-586-8588

senwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov

Rm #203


OC


Health Freedom WINS in Virginia and Colorado!


Congratulations Virginia

Virginians for Health Freedom defeated a restrictive Dietitian Licensing bill, H.B. 345, on February 2, 2012. The bill was heard in the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and was tabled until 2013! National Health Freedom Action assisted Virginians for Health Freedom in these efforts, preparing point-documents detailing the reasons for opposing the bill and helping prepare opposition testimony for those who were able to testify. Thank you for your calls, e-mails, and faxes to your legislators to oppose H.B. 345. Great job Virginia!

Congratulations Colorado
Colorado Health Freedom Advocates defeated a monopolistic Dietitian Licensing bill, H.B. 1060, in Colorado on February 6, 2012! The bill was heard in the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee and was tabled indefinitely! National Health Freedom Action flew attorney Anne Tenner out to testify against the bill on behalf of NHFA and the thousands of consumers and practitioners of natural health in Colorado. Many Colorado citizens and concerned organizations were in attendance, several of whom provided opposition testimony as well. Additional Health Freedom groups in attendance included Colorado Sunshine Health Freedom Foundation, Colorado Springs Citizens for Health Freedom, Colorado Natural Health Coalition, Weston Price Foundation, and more. Thank you for your calls, e-mails, and faxes to your legislators to oppose H.B. 1060. Great job Colorado!

OC