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Following are current issues the committee has been following on the
national level:
1) In December, 2006 Congress passed S. 3421 the $3.2 billion Veterans
Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006 which is an
collection of House and Senate initiatives that had been in limbo for months
while lawmakers tried to reach a compromise. S. 3421 included a provision
allowing licensed mental health counselors to be hired by Department of
Veterans' Affairs (VA) programs. It allows counselors to compete for
positions at the VA, and will force the federal government to create a job
classification specifically for mental health counselors. This is
significant to future recognition of mental health counselors in other
federal job settings. President Bush signed S. 3421 into law on 12/22/06.
The law is Public Law 109-461 and includes language establishing explicit
recognition of licensed professional counselors as mental health specialists
within health care programs operated by the VA. The proposed regulations
will be published in the Federal Register to allow a public comment period.
Following VA review of the public's comments, the regulations will be made
final, which could take up to a year or longer.
2) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act or "No Child Left Behind"
will expire this year. Congress must reauthorize or revise the federal
statute. ACA's lobbyist Chris Campbell will be working on this issue over
the next few months.
3) ACA will be pushing for Mental Health Insurance Parity again this
session. With the change in control of Congress, they are hopeful that this
will be successful.
4) Other possible areas of interest: Ethics and lobbying reform, spending
process reform, pay-as-you-go budgeting, legislation adopting security
proposals recommended by the 9/11 Commission, increasing federal minimum
wage from $5.15 and hour to $7.25 an hour, and expanding federal funding for
embryonic stem cell research.
Most of the above information can be found on the ACA website
(www.counseling.org) under the heading public legislation. I continue to
get updates on issues the ACA Public Policy Department are working on.
These updates come through the Government Relations Listserv and the Key
Contact Updates I receive as the Key Contact for ND. I have not heard
anything specific, however I assume the change in the control of Congress
could put our Congressional Delegates in positions of authority that would
mean more follow up with them regarding important issues. In the past
Senator Conrad was a key senator with regards to legislation that would
include coverage for LPCs under Medicare. So we may need to be more active
than has been necessary recently.
ACA Internet Legislative Action Center
Senator Kent Conrad: senator@conrad.senate.gov
Senator Byron Dorgan: senator@dorgan.senate.gov
Congressman Earl Pomeroy: rep.earl.pomeroy@mail.house.gov
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