Meeting with Senator LaValle leads to healthier relationship

To be honest, we were expecting a fight. After all, Senator Kenneth P. LaValle (R), one of the most senior and powerful legislators in New York State, is the primary sponsor of many bills that appear to add more burdensome regulations to our constituents.  And except for one meeting in Albany a few years ago,  NPA East's Advocacy Committee has been chasing the good Senator for nearly five years! 

So it's no surprise that, when his office in Long Island finally agreed to schedule a meeting with members of NPA East's Advocacy Committee on December 12,  we came well-prepared to do battle for our cause. 

As we waited for Senator LaValle in his offices, we refined our strategy and tactics and waited for the conflict to begin.  The Senator arrived shortly, and we followed him into his office, armed with charts, graphs, testimonials, and a ream of paper outlining our position and the history of our organization, all designed to show him, in blazing color,  the error of his ways.  He stood at the end of the table, staring down at the folder we had presented him, and then looke up at us and said,  "Just so I have this straight, you guys are the pill pushers, right?"   Our brave group, speaking as one and easing toward the exit, immediately corrected him and noted that we were the dietary supplement pill pushers. 

An advocate in disguise
He laughed. We laughed.  And then he drops the bombshell.  He and his wife take more than seven supplements a day and have been for many years.  So why all the legislation potentially damaging to our industry?  His concern is that consumers don't have sufficient information about the proper use of supplements, especially their possible interaction with prescription drugs.  While we agreed that consumers should be informed about the proper use of supplements, we were able to provide him with many examples for how the industry, from manufacturers to retailers, ensures that this information is readily available.
The Bottom line: What did we accomplish?

Although Senator LaValle still maintains that even more information is a good thing, he also acknowledged that with the economy still in recovery, this was not the time to add to the burden.

Here's what we brought home to you:

• S3556, Dieticians and Nutritionists Licensure Act would require certification from New York State to sell and recommend dietary supplements to consumers:  Agreed to withdraw the bill and have it rewritten based on our concerns and those of other groups.  Also offered to let us review the bill before it is resubmitted.
• A01396: Dietary Food and Supplements Act would have required all dietary supplements sold in New York State to contain a label that notifies consumers that these supplements are not approved or tested by the FDA.  The cost alone for suppliers and manufacturers to comply would run into thousands of dollars. Several manufacturers who currently sell products in New York would be very likely to stop manufacturing and selling products in New York.  And those who would continue to manufacture and sell products in New York would pass on these additional costs to our New York retailers, who, in turn, might be forced to charge their customers higher prices than their competition in neighboring states:   Agreed not to pursue this bill due to the weakness of the economy.  This is a major victory for our membership, since it was the most onerous, and one we've been fighting to kill for the past five years.

Help us help you
The NPA East Advocacy Committee is composed of a handful of volunteers and our Executive Director.  Besides New York, we have 10 additional states in our region to track. You can help by volunteering an hour or so of your time every couple of weeks to keep an eye on the legislatures in your state.  It's easy.  And we'll provide you with all the tools you need.  But the end result of being our eyes and ears on pending legislation is priceless. 

Interested in helping us protect your interests? Call your Executive Director, Paul Kushner, at 856-985-5446 and help us monitor your state legislature. Or email Paul at info@npaeast.org.  You can also sign up to help at www.npaeast.org under the Advocacy section of the website.