News

A Message from Mike West; President, California Athletic Trainers Association:

I first want to thank all those who have written or asked others to write letters of support for AB 1890.  The support provided has been fantastic and it shows how committed our membership is to becoming licensed in California.  Your CATA leadership thanks you for your hard work and dedication.

In the last week, the CATA Governmental Affairs Committee and our lobbying firm of Aaron Read and Associates have been discussing our effort this year in light of recent political events and attitudes at the capitol.  First and foremost, our lobbyists commend us on the work that is being done and the progress being made.  We are on the cusp of success in passing licensure- it is just a matter of time.  However, we have run across some unanticipated issues that are not necessarily related to our opposition but would make passing licensure this year extremely difficult if not impossible.  As a result, we discussed moving to title protection this year instead of licensure as a means to work towards our ultimate goal.  It is not a decision we considered lightly and even as the language has changed, we are continuing to do the work necessary to achieve licensure.  Considering all the issues we have encountered this year, we felt this was the best decision to make at this time.

Passing a title protection bill will not be easy.   Letters will still need to be written and lobbying will still need to be done.  If we are able to get this bill signed by the governor, it will be a tremendous springboard moving towards the licensure of athletic trainers in California the following year.  Please know that the many people working on this from the Governmental Affairs Committee, the CATA board, and our lobbying firm are committed to gaining licensure as quickly as possible to protect the citizens of California. Thank you again for your hard work and dedication.

Courtesy of Mike West, CATA President & FWATA California Representative