Legislative Advocacy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian Gonzalez
Managing Partner, GC Advisors
(479) 685-0499
Christian@arkansaslobbyists.com
https://www.arkansaslobbyists.com

Christian Gonzalez is the Managing Partner of GC Advisors, a government relations firm based in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas. He represents economic development, telecom, trade associations, healthcare, education, and technology clients across the state and works closely with legislators, state agencies, and regulatory boards on a wide range of issues. Christian previously served in multiple policy and political roles for Arkansas constitutional officers and the executive branch and his team is recognized for its strong relationships at the Capitol and its hands-on, proactive approach to advocacy. GC Advisors’ work with ArkSHA focuses on ensuring SLPs and Audiologists have a strong voice in state policy and are engaged early in legislative developments that impact the profession.

Background and historical efforts from ArkSHA:

• 2004 – beginning of the ArkSHA Salary Supplement Committee, a committee developed to secure a stipend for school-based SLPs by having the state recognize the ASHA CCCs as equivalent to the National Board Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certification.
• 2005 – HB 1622 had passed both chambers of the House and Senate, it was signed by Gov. Huckabee and became Act 1187 of 2005.
• 2007 – ArkSHA was unable to obtain funding for Act 1187, and an appropriations bill, HB 1344, was filed. However, it never made it out of committee.
• 2009 – Act 607 signed into law, but still “unfunded”
• 2015 – Johnny Key became ADE Commissioner, during previous terms in office he supported and voted for our stipend
• 2017 – ArkSHA formed a Stipend Ad Hoc Committee
• 2017- ArkSHA’s Executive Board and the Stipend Ad Hoc Committee have held ongoing meetings with Commissioner Key in moving forward to funding the law.
• 2018 – Stipend Ad Hoc Committee met with Representative Cozart, Chair of the Educational Committee, and separately with ADE Commissioner Mr. Johnny Key, with encouragement and ongoing support from both parties, including suggestion to rewrite the Appropriations Act 607 of 2009 in regards to funding.
• 2018- ArkSHA Stipend Ad Hoc Committee met with Speaker of the House Matthew Shepherd, who also offered his support of funding the law.

Beginning in summer 2019, ArkSHA’s Interim Study Proposal Bill 2019-13 called for an interim study on the recruitment and retention of school-based SLPs. A volunteer committee led by Lauren Rogers and Leeann Griffith prepared a presentation for the House and Senate Education Committees, with guidance from Janet Deppe (ASHA). Representatives Bruce Cozart and Jana Della Rosa supported the effort in the legislature. Some critical points included were:

• We need others to understand our role in schools—both in Tier 1 high-quality instruction that supports reading and writing, and in providing intervention for all students. The link between spoken language and reading is undeniable; SLPs are specialists in all elements of Scarborough’s Reading Rope.
• Caseload vs. Workload – School SLPs do far more than therapy, including IEPs, evaluations, reporting, Medicaid billing, lesson prep, AAC programming, screenings, visuals, interventions, and school duties. Workload also includes testing, behavioral support, and professional development. Staffing is based on caseload, with little regard for actual workload.
• School SLPs generate significant revenue for schools through Medicaid, contributing around 25% of MITS funds—totaling $20,129,165.16 in the 2024 school year—which can support recruitment and retention efforts.
• Language delays are linked to higher incarceration rates, and behavior is communication. For many students, schools are the only source of intervention.
• Clinical and medical SLPs earn significantly higher salaries than school SLPs, making recruitment and retention challenging.
• Arkansas has a high per capita SLP ratio, but many districts struggle to hire and keep qualified SLPs; of 3,082 licensed SLPs, only about xxx work in schools.
• Act 1187/House Bills 1622 and 1189 mandated a $5,000 annual incentive for certified school SLPs starting in 2005–2006, but it has never been funded.
• The growing number of multilingual/bilingual students requires more time-consuming evaluations with best practice mandating testing in both languages. This adds to the workload that is often not recognized in staffing discussions.

Over the past two years, ArkSHA has met and corresponded with ADE Secretary Jacob Oliva, Representative Kendra Moore, ADE Assistant Commissioner Karli Saracini, and other legislators. Our advocacy focuses on recruiting and retaining school-based SLPs and raising awareness of the unique challenges they face. Key topics discussed were:

• Merit Pay: We are seeking clarification on SLP eligibility and advocating to revise the statute to explicitly include SLPs in the definition of “teacher,” which currently covers teachers, librarians, and counselors. Eligible individuals must work directly with children at least 70% of the time.
• National Board Stipend: The 2005 LEARNS Act stipend has not been funded for years. We are advocating for a statutory revision to ensure funding is allocated.
• Separate Pay Scale: We are exploring state and district efforts to establish a distinct pay scale for school SLPs. Balancing both a teaching license and an ABESPA license, along with other teaching requirements that don’t always align with our scope of practice, can be burdensome. A separate scale would clarify our role and better reflect our workload and responsibilities.

ArkSHA’s lobbyist, Christian Gonzalez, Managing Partner of GC Advisors, works to ensure SLPs and Audiologists have a strong voice in state policy and are engaged early in legislative developments. Please support ArkSHA by joining, if you haven’t already, to help us retain a lobbyist advocating on our behalf. Thank you to our members who have already contributed to this collective effort to strengthen our professions.

The Committee of Ambassadors (CoA) is charged with acting as Ambassadors of ASHA by providing advocacy on and communication about the priorities of the Association to officials, constituents, peers, and the general public. We will be conducting advocacy events, meeting with legislative representatives, and using social media and other mediums to share information about ASHA’s work and priorities (if you were familiar with the previous ASHA Advisory Councils this is the committee that replaced those respective councils). There is representation from all U.S. states and territories from both audiology and speech-language pathology.

More Information on ASHA CoA