Monday, February 18th, 2008...6:52 am
News Flash: There Are Republican Legislators That Aren’t Total Tools
Jump to Comments
Some good news: Bill Konopnicki has scheduled hearings today on bills about mental health parity (HB2145) and getting rid of the so-called “bare period” for employers that wish to join up with Healthcare Group (HB 2166). One legislator I talked to thought this was a shot in Pan Konopnicki’s conflict with Speaker Jim Weiers.
The trouble is, Konopnicki doesn’t think that the bills will pass, so he has scheduled hearings but no vote. This is still progress from past sessions, when both bills were stuck in a drawer with those newsletters from the National Phlebotomy Association.
2 Comments
February 18th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I was at the hearing today and it was Rep. Konopnicki’s words during the debate on HB 2791 (the Gov’s Temporary Worker program proposal). While I have major problems with the bill (esp. a lack of protection for the workers), Rep. Konopnicki should be applauded for his efforts and leadership. Before the testimony started he said that he would not tolerate any racist remarks or attacks on anyone’s patriotism like the one’s he’s received in his email. He cut off one guy who was trying to insinuate that a new civil war was coming because of immigration.
On another related note, Jen Allen of the Border Action Network did an outstanding job of pointing out the flaws in the bill that might allow exploitation of the workers. Rep. Konopnicki agreed with her on many of the points.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:04 am
Mental health is always looked at as ‘less’ of a health issue than other health issues.
A long time ago the saying, ‘it’s all in your head’ was considered to mean that there was nothing wrong at all. We now know that the brain is an organ that is just as susceptible to disease or disfunction as any other organ, but it is profitable for insurers to keep the old way of thinking viable (so they don’t have to pay mental health professionals as much) and they have even gone so far as to enter into an unholy alliance with the Scientologists to convince lawmakers and others that mental health professionals shouldn’t be adequately compensated for the work they do.
Leave a Reply