Who's paying your bill for legal and politcal representation?

• There are 3 main organizations in Florida that represent acupuncturists in the FL legislature and watch the legal and political issues. Of those, none have the resourses to pay for full-blown defense and pursue legislation that will enhance our practices. They are only able to pay for "watch-dog" status. Aggressive representation hasn't been done since the 90's when half the licensees where contributing to the cause. This produced 3 years of legislative changes that enhanced our practice, and produced things like AIT being incorporated into our practice act. Since then, even though the number of licensees has tripled, the number of those contributing has actually dropped! That has resulted in us being bulldozed in the past 10 years with our political standing, remember PIP? Next year, the Dry Needling fight will hit the legislature AGAIN (read the update below to find out more details about this issue) and we are not properly funded to fight this. If everyone contributed only $50 a month to the cause, we could achieve bigger and greater things - but like everything in the US, it takes cash, not fairy dust. When was the last time you contributed to protecting your license? Some may say, "well, I pay the renewal fees to the state, doesn't that protect me?" My answer, no. It does not. Those fees go to the regulation of the practice and as clearly outlined in the statute, for the purpose of protecting the public. It does not protect you or your interests. Its time to join and pay your share. Collectively we can win this fight. Isn't it worth $50 a month to protect your practice? Drop me a quick comment and let me know your thoughts or hesitations. Thanks for reading my rant, it is appreciated. Mary Riggin