Become a Keyperson
Because optometry is a legislated profession, the Kansas Optometric Association must maintain a high profile with elected policy makers across Kansas, including state legislators, the Insurance Commissioner, the Attorney General, the Governor, the Kansas Congressional delegation and our U.S. Senators. In order to be successful with this, we must have grassroots support from our members. And you can help us do this by serving as a Legislative Keyperson. A legislative keyperson is essentially a KOA member who has an existing relationship with an elected official or who is willing to forge a new relationship. These relationships come in many forms such as neighborhood, school, place of worship, professional, civic or political. Many keypersons have a doctor-patient relationship with their legislator. We need keypersons who know their legislators and are willing to be conduits for the profession. Members can serve as a keyperson for an elected official from the district where they live, where they work or wherever. If you have a family friend who is an elected official from your home town, you can serve as that individual's keyperson.There can be more than one keyperson per elected official, and one optometrist can serve as keyperson for more than one elected official. We want at least one keyperson for every elected official, but multiple keypersons are definitely okay.
Educate: Educate your legislator about the importance and value of regular eye care, as well as any key issues around scope, patient access or other concerns.
Communicate: Maintain regular communication by attending local legislative events or updates by your legislative delegation.
Attend: Attend the annual KOA Day at the Legislature and contribute annually to KOPAC and AOA-PAC.
Respond: Be willing to quickly respond to a request from the KOA for action on a specific bill.
Contribute: Regularly contribute (either financially or with your time) to your local legislators and remember to thank them for their service.
Assist: Help legislators with their campaign somehow, such as putting up yard signs, etc. If you have two patients running against each other, please contact the KOA Office before donating.
Alert: Alert the KOA about prospects for re-election or other strong candidates so KOPAC can us this information for supporting candidates.
Contact the KOA office by phone at 785-232-0225 or send an email to kopac@kansasoptometric.org.
