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Legislative Issues

Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon opened the event with some profound words, professing that this Chamber and the Oklahoma Legislature as a whole can be proud for carrying out their legislative duties according to their ethical and moral obligation to their constituants, unlike many Legislators in Washington, D.C., who do so dependent on the contributions from the Lobbyists. He further reassured that Okla. politicians are grateful for the Lobbyists' insight they bring from each side of a Legislative issue. 
As usual, Mr. Funk's staff carried out a delightful hospitality and Mr. Funk himself was gracious as always. The UCA wants to thank Drs. Farris, Kenyon, Peace, Smiley, M. Sullivan and Ungerland for joining the UCA Executive officers to give of their personal monies to the Republican State House Committee. A special thanks goes out to Drs. Frank Starns and Russ Gilstrap for their contributions of $250.00. We delivered contributions of over $1,200 to the event on behalf of Unified Chiropractic Association; earning the UCA not only a listing as the only Chiropractic Association on the Sponsorship board, but at the same level as the Osteopathic
Association and the only sponsoring  Chiropractic Lobbyist, UCA's Lesa Smaligo.
The Unified Chiropractic Association of Oklahoma continues to aggressively act, not only on proactive Chiropractic legislation, like the Equal Co-Pay Bill, but All advesarial issues that could affect our practices. We have done so for over a decade and will continue to do so for ALL chiropractic physicians in Oklahoma. This Legislative session has been one of many pieces of Legislation that could have negatively affected Chiropractic, but thanks to the vigilence of UCA Lobbyist, Lesa Smaligo, she was quick to bring those concerns to our attention to take appropriate action. We certainly appreciate the recent influx of new members to our organization.
Yours in Chiropractic,
Tom Derstine, D.C.
UCA Executive Director

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UCA was the Only Oklahoma Chiropractic Association To Lobby Against 2014 Physical Therapist’s “Direct Access” Bills

UNIFIED CHIROPRACTIC ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA

Could that be the reason it passed?Read More

2018 Talking Points for Chiropractic Inclusion in Okla. Work Compensation:

Number one Legislative Agenda:

A. Work Comp. Inclusion: The legislators must be informed that the Chiropractic Community is
very much interested in the “injured worker’s” ability to select the doctor of their own choosing for
treatment of their “on the job” injuries. 

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History of Unity-One voice Breeds Legislative Success

History tells us here in Oklahoma, that the Chiropractic profession has had more legislative success when one voice with the same message/agenda is delivered at the Capitol. For the most part, that was the case throughout the 1900’s until approximately 1985. The Chiropractic Association of Oklahoma (CAO) was the only Association with a lobbyist, when a separate association sprung up, mainly to acquire membership dollars for the founder to use for reimbursement of travel and entertainment expenses for what he considered to benefit Chiropractic. That action resulted in a small group of other DC’s forming another group with the sole purpose of discrediting that splinter group and be recognized as an elite fund raiser.

None the less, even though there were those multiple groups for approximately a decade, they realized that working harmoniously together as the Joint Chiropractic Association (JCA) with a combined board of directors and one voice the Capitol was far more beneficial for the better good of the whole profession. Consequently, the leadership of all three groups basically dropped their identities with their individual Associations, portraying an even stronger bond to the profession and the Legislators. As a result, the JCA passed or killed 38 pieces of pro or anti-Chiropractic legislation respectively, during the 1985 through 1989 legislative sessions.

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