The committee met with Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy’s legislative representatives to discuss the movement of the bill towards a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy. We were informed by our legal counsel that Assemblywoman Fahy is not running for re-election in the Assembly but has announced that she is running for a New York State Senate seat in the 46th Senate District in New York. This Senate District encompasses Albany, Schenectady and Fort Plain areas. After the November elections, the leadership in the Assembly will be appointing a new Chair of Higher Education.
Even with this change in leadership, our legal counsel does not believe this will cause a major setback. We are confident that in the next legislative session, that Senator Andrew Gounardes, from the 26th Senate District and Assemblyman William Magnarelli, from the 129th Assembly District, will continue to sponsor our bill and reintroduced it into the next legislative session.
Along with the change in the legislature, we were informed that Sarah Benson, New York State Education Department Deputy Commissioner for the Profession, has retired. Ms. Benson Sarah was a Legislative and Staff Director for the NYS Assembly. Before joining NYSED, she earned a Master of Administration from Johns Hopkins University and her Bachelor of Arts from Dickinson College. She was also a graduate of the Public Management Institute Program, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Ms. Benson has served in state government for the last 35 years and has been with the NYSED for the last 19 years. She has provided wonderful leadership to the NYSED and has been extremely helpful in our discussions affecting the profession of respiratory care. The Board of Regents has appointed David Hamilton as Deputy Commissioner and Owen Donavan as Assistant Commissioner.
It is our goal to secure a meeting in the month of August with the New York State Department of Education and the ad hoc team to discuss the bill further for any suggestions, changes, or recommendations. We believe all NYSED’s concerns have been addressed in the current version of the bill but look forward to any further discussion with NYSED.
