M e d i c a l r e c o r d f e at u r e Meeting Great Expectations - your Legislative Meeting T Larry Light retired from PAMED as the Senior Vice President for Political Affairs. He was a PAMED lobbyist at the state and national levels for more than 34 years. he first months of 2019 have been filled with an unusually high level of political activity for a year in which only municipal elections are normally held. Generally it is a time period when first term legislators, newly elected caucus leaders and first time committee chairs are settling into their comfort zone. However, the winter and spring months of this year have instead seen an escalation of political intensity as a series of seven special elections were held to fill seven vacant legislative seats in districts across the Commonwealth. After the May 21st date of the Pennsylvania primary election, three new State Representatives, three new State Senators and one new Congressman will have been selected and will be sworn into office. And in typical Pennsylvania political fashion of late, the reasons for several of the special elections are noteworthy. The Congressional seat of Tom Marino was vacant due to his resignation for personal reasons, while State Senators Rich Alloway and Don White resigned for the same reason. The third State Senate special election was required when Guy Reschenthaler was elected to the Congress. Things were somewhat different in the House. Special elections there were 34 | www.berkscms.org held to fill the seats of two members facing legal issues, Brian Ellis and Vanessa Lowery-Brown. There was also a need to replace Representative Sid Michaels Kavulich who died before the 2018 General Election but was none the less re-elected to his House seat posthumously. The result of each special election is considered an important factor in measuring the potential for a shift in the balance of political power for the respective chambers, so to the party leaders and political analysts these are critically important. Words like momentum and karma are regularly mentioned. With those special elections in the background, Pennsylvania physicians have never had a better time to meet with their own state and federal legislators and begin the process of building a productive advocacy relationship. Legislators at every level react to the stimuli around them and they are especially interested in hearing from their constituents. Physicians who provide health care to their constituents and who live in their district are uniquely positioned to influence health care public policy. Generally their views are both sought after and respected. A legislative "district" meeting is the best way to achieve that effect.http://www.berkscms.org