Remember this spring, when we asked for your help in defeating SB 1195 (Sen. Hill) – a bill that threatened the very existence of the Board of Registered Nursing (BRN)? Nurses showed up in large numbers in Sacramento to lobby against the bill, and you made hundreds of calls to your Senators. It was a tremendous show of nurse-strength and you were successful in stopping the legislation. Unfortunately, Sen. Hill is determined to pass this dangerous new law, and he’s planning to bring back the bill in the State Assembly and attempt to rush it through during the very end of the legislative session.  Very soon, we will be reaching out to ask for your help in defeating this dangerous legislation all over again.

The new Hill bill will take away all meaningful decision making power from the BRN, and give it to a single, solitary bureaucrat—the director of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA)—who has no specialized understanding of nursing practice or patient protection issues.  It would also create a dangerous power imbalance that would allow corporations and the hospital industry to tie-up actions of the BRN with superfluous review periods and endless litigation.

Under this bill, The DCA director would have the authority to unilaterally veto almost any board action, decision, or proposed regulation. Needless to say, the director would be subject to enormous political pressure by anti-regulatory, business-friendly forces like the California Hospital Association, who are constantly trying to undo hard-won patient protection initiatives like the nurse-to-patient ratios and scope of RN practice.

As nurses, our top priority is to protect patients and ensure their health and well-being. One of the most essential tools we have for protecting patients in California is the Board of Registered Nursing, which is responsible for enforcing the Nursing Practice Act. This bill poses an existential threat to the BRN and will have harmful impacts on nurses and patients in this state.

August is the last month of legislative session and things in Sacramento move very quickly and with little advance notice. We don’t yet know what the new bill number will be or when it will have a hearing, but we need you to be ready to respond immediately by making phone calls and possibly even coming to Sacramento to lobby your assembly members. Please be on the lookout for additional news with more information on how you can help defeat this harmful legislation!