Your Association Needs You!
State legislation and administrative regulations affect your career by determining how and where you can practice dental hygiene. The NDHA supports you and your interests at the the state level by making sure that legislators and decision makers are aware of your positions on practice issues ranging from direct access to scope of practice and reimbursement.
We work with state policy makers and stakeholders to promote policies that encourage increased availability of oral health care and to allow dental hygienists to practice to the full extent of their dental hygiene education and licensure.
The leadership of NDHA can't do it alone. We need you!
Grassroots Advocacy
It is very important that dental hygienists become familiar with Senators in the Nebraska Legislature. It is important that each one of us have contact with legislative candidates BEFORE they take office. Once Senators take office, they go through and barely glance through items received from people they had never had contact with and they spend vital time on items from people that they have had previous communication with. As you can see, having a relationship established is crucial. That's why we want you to become a Contact Hygienist!
What is a Contact Hygienist?
A Contact Hygienist is a volunteer who is ready to keep Senators informed of the hygiene profession’s concerns and goals. NDHA keeps members informed of important issues, but the Contact Hygienist takes action to ensure our voice is heard through phone calls, FAXs, letters and personal visits to the policymaker.
It is important to build a relationship with your representative before you start sending letters and calling about issues. How can you establish a relationship? Take your legislative candidate out for coffee or a meal, volunteer to walk with them in a parade, or simply give them a call. They may not know all (or any) of the issues relating to dental hygiene, but when they are faced with a dental hygiene issue while in office, they know they have someone they can turn to for guidance on how proposed legislation would affect the people in back home.
Could I really be a Contact Hygienist?
Yes you can! If you think talking to a legislative candidate would be too intimidating, you’ve got to remember that these candidates are real, everyday people. Imagine if you were walking into a room full of people you don’t know who are ready to pounce on you about issues important to them. That would be intimidating! And that’s what we do not want to do. We want to establish a contact relationship with the candidate, not bombard them with issues. We want them coming to us for information when they need it.
Great candidates for this position would be a hygienist who:
Already has an established relationship with a Senator, be it a personal friendship, a professional association, or a campaign connection
Wants to become politically active and wishes to develop a contact relationship with a Senator
Has demonstrated their commitment to dental hygiene’s future by serving on the Executive Board or volunteered for other activities within the association
Nebraska Legislative Districts ' and NDHA Components
Are You Interested in Serving on a Legislative Sub-Committee?
We’d love to hear from you and help you get the ball rolling! Your involvement CAN make the difference for all members of NDHA. If you are interested, fill out the application below or contact the Executive Director at (402) 641-1319 or director@nedha.org
The 2024 NDHA Legislative Breakfast with Nebraska State Senators is scheduled for:
Friday, February 23, 2024
Billy's Restaurant
1301 H St, Lincoln, NE 68508
8:00 am
National Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact
ADHA is pleased to share the draft text of the licensure compact for dental hygiene and dentistry. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense, in partnership with The Council of State Governments (CSG) selected ADHA & ADA to receive technical assistance with interstate licensure compact development. This was a competitive application process and we were pleased to be selected for the project! Interstate compacts are contracts between two or more states creating an agreement on a particular policy issue, in this case professional licensure, and adopting a certain standard or cooperating on regional or national matters. The licensure compact is intended to improve license portability by allowing licensees from compact states to be eligible for multistate practice in other compact states.
Through The Council of State Government’s project page you will find links to participate in webinars to learn more about the provisions of the draft legislation. You will also find the draft text itself and a survey to provide feedback on the draft text (coming soon). This stakeholder review period is an important part of the compact development. Please note state legislatures will need to pass nearly identical pieces of legislation to join the compact so broad participation in the review is essential to putting forth the best piece of legislation possible. Once the feedback period is complete, final legislation will be prepared for state legislatures to consider.
We encourage you to register for one of the upcoming webinars and then complete the survey. ADHA has worked closely with CSG in preparing this draft and we are supportive of the draft language. We are proud to have participated in this project and be the national voice of dental hygienists at the table preparing this draft.
