Legislative Day

For 17 years, WRHA held a February event in Olympia known as Policy Day. The morning discussion included introduction of the WRHA Legislative Platform and a discussion between members and legislators. The afternoon section of the day was spent with members of the Association in meetings with their individual legislators.

The 2007 Policy Day was not as well attended as previous events, and WRHA decided to re-evaluate Policy Day. At the 2007 Annual Meeting, Sue Lani Madsen & David Olson led an activity with the membership to find out what the issues were that prevented people from attending Policy Day, and what could be done to make the event more attractive and valuable.
 

Excuses For Not Going To Policy Day

• Conflicts with Rural Hospital Meeting.
• Too Busy
• Geography - Too hard to get to Olympia.
• Not held in conjunction with other related activity – Rural Hospital Meeting, Chamber of Commerce Groups, WSHA & WSNA & WSMA, Farm Bureau.
• Getting time off work – another group uses President's Day.
• Costs to travel.
• No "hot issues" identified.

Ideas For Enhancing Attendance At Policy Day

• Hold Policy Day in conjunction with public hearing on rural issue.
• Keep momentum on legislative issues by having off-session visits with legislators.
• Invite legislators to tour health care facilities.
• Have an annualized December meeting.
• Reimburse attendees for gas mileage and/or arrange carpools.

To address the "hot issues" problem, the Bill Tracking Report was developed. WRHA did not have a legislative event during the 2008 session. We have developed a proposal for an alternative way to meet with our legislators, and the legislative committee will be working on implementing this for the upcoming session.

WRHA is always happy to help our members and other friends of rural health in visiting Olympia. Please give us a call and we can assist you in scheduling time with your legislators,  developing your message, finding accommodations near the campus, and other nuts and bolts of visiting Olympia.