Situation
The North Dakota Athletic Trainers Association wanted to modernize and update the scope of practice for athletic trainers to no longer restrict and limit them to treating athletic injuries.
Objective
Odney was hired to help the NDATA develop a legislative proposal to modernize and update their scope of practice and get it approved by the legislative assembly and Governor.
Strategy
Based on research of the scope of practice of athletic trainers in other states, Odney, NDATA leadership and a core working group identified best practices and the most suitable options for modernizing and updating the scope of practice. This included a plan for drafting legislation, recruiting sponsors, educating both chambers of the legislative assembly and earning votes.
Tactics
Odney developed a legislative proposal based on the research conducted and successfully recruited legislative sponsors and champions for the proposal.
We assisted NDATA leadership and the core working group to develop a legislative strategy, including drafting correspondence, emails, testimony and supporting information. We reached out to and negotiated with other impacted parties, including the North Dakota Medical Association and the North Dakota Associations of Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists, and their lobbyists.
We worked closely with legislative sponsors, champions, and members of the Senate and House Human Services Committees to finalize amendments that met the needs of the NDATA and the other impacted parties, and to earn a 'do pass' recommendation out of both committees.