AOTA Board Member Testifies at Congressional Hearing Leading to Two Legislative Victories on Diversity and Mental Health
Update: November 17, 2021
During a full House Energy & Commerce Committee markup meeting on Tuesday, November 17th, the Committee agreed with the Subcommittee on Health, and unanimously approved the legislation. The Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act has now been passed out of Committee and the next step for H.R. 3320 is a vote by the full House of Representatives. In order to show schedule makers in Congress that this piece of legislation is a priority, please ask your Representative to support H.R. 3320 today!
November 4, 2021
The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health unanimously approved the legislation, sending it to the full Committee for consideration. The next step in the legislative process is full Energy & Commerce approval, followed by consideration by the full House of Representatives. After that the bill will still need to pass in the Senate before being signed into law.
Prior to its approval by the Subcommittee, Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) offered an amendment to H.R. 3320, proposing three changes. Two were technical in nature, while the third would make a minor change to the statute of an already existing program, the Behavioral Health Workforce Training Program (BHWET). None of the changes, which were approved, will impact the proposed Allied Health Workforce Diversity program.
October 29, 2021
The Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing entitled, "Caring for America: Legislation to Support Patients, Caregivers, and Providers" on October 26th. This was a legislative hearing, providing the subcommittee with an opportunity to hear testimony on seven pieces of legislation, among them was H.R. 3320, the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2021.
Hearings like this are as rare as they are routine. While hearings are part of the legislative process, there are simply too many bills for Congress to hold a legislative hearing on each one. The last Congress saw nearly 17,000 bills introduced, including the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act for the first time. The Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2019 from the 116th Congress never received a hearing, but its language was included in a larger legislative package, which then passed the full House.
For this Congress, the 117th, responding to and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the priority. For the hearing on October 26th, the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health’s focus was on initiatives to support the health workforce. In addition to the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act, the Subcommittee heard from witnesses in support of other AOTA priorities, such as H.R. 1667, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, H.R. 5583, the Helping Enable Access to Lifesaving Services (HEALS) Act, and H.R. 1474, the Alzheimer's Caregiver Support Act.
AOTA was honored to receive an invitation to have Dr. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, DHSc, OTR, FAOTA, a member of the AOTA Board of Directors, testify in front of the Subcommittee. Dr. Garcia Wilburn answered questions on the specifics and importance of H.R. 3320 from the Subcommittee for more than 4 hours.
Watch Victoria Garcia Wilburn’s 5 minute opening statement.
(You can hear some of the questioning at the 2:53:00, 3:33:45, and 3:53:46 marks)
The next step for H.R. 3320 is a “markup” session, where the Subcommittee debates the specific language of bills, before approving or rejecting them. If a bill is approved, it will move on for consideration by the full Energy & Commerce Committee. If approved by the full Committee, it will be sent to the full House of Representatives for a vote. If it receives House approval, this process starts again in the Senate.
At every step of the legislative process, Congress needs to hear from constituents. Contact your Members of Congress today, and urge them to support and pass H.R. 3320, the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act.