At TNP’s 35th Annual Conference in Dallas, State Senator César J. Blanco of El Paso received the Texas Nurse Practitioners Legislator of the Year award for his determined effort to address the primary healthcare shortage by modernizing Texas’ outdated occupational licensing laws. In March, Senator Blanco introduced Senate Bill 1700, known as the Healthcare Expanded and Accessed Locally for Texans Act, or HEAL Texans Act.
“During the 88th Regular Session, Senator César Blanco demonstrated bold, common-sense leadership by introducing this crucially needed bill that would have expanded access to healthcare for Texans everywhere, especially in rural and other underserved parts of the state,” said TNP. “We applaud his efforts to eliminate the outdated, unnecessary mandates that continue to limit the ability of nurse practitioners to provide basic care to the people who need it the most.”
A public health study funded by the T.L.L. Temple Foundation found that Texas could alleviate its primary care provider shortage by 32% by removing this state mandate on nurse practitioners.
