Music Therapy Association of Georgia

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Update: May 2, 2012

SB 414 was signed by Governor Deal!

SB 414, the music therapy licensure bill was signed into law by Governor Deal yesterday! This was a huge step forward for the music therapy profession in GA and something that we all should be very proud of. It is the culmination of an enormous grassroots effort that was supported by music therapists, families/caregivers and professionals from related fields. You all wrote emails, made phone calls and showed up to the Capitol to advocate for the bill, and your hard work paid off! I can't thank you enough for the many ways, big and small, that you supported the efforts.

At this point, the bill will go through the writing of rules and regulations. We will keep you up to date on the process as things move forward.

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Update: April 30, 2012
The governor plans to sign SB 414!! This is all possible due to Senator Unterman's advocacy on our behalf along with the support expressed by music therapists, families and other professionals from around the state these past couple of weeks. Upon invitation from the governor, the Task Force, Senator Unterman and Representative Cooper (the bill's sponsors) will attend a signing ceremony this Tuesday at the Capitol where everything will be made official.

On behalf of the Task Force, we can't say it enough.....THANK YOU!!! Thank you to all those that have written emails, visited the Capitol, spoke with your legislators or supported the advocacy effort in any way. This has truly been a grassroots effort, and it's because of the work of many that this bill has made it to this final stage of the process.

We will continue to keep you updated on the next steps in the process as the bill moves into the phase of the writing of the rules and regulations.
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Update: March 30, 2012
I am writing to you from the SER-AMTA regional conference to tell you the good news that SB 414, the music therapy licensure bill, has officially PASSED!!! Many of you have been following closely from the time it passed in the state Senate, to just the other day when it passed in the House of Representatives. Yesterday evening, SB 414 went back to the Senate floor for approval of the language that was adopted in the House and passed by a vote of 45 to 5. The bill will now go to the Governor for his signature.

This is great news for our state as well as our region. Georgia is the third state in the US and the first state in the SER to pass a licensure bill. And we have so many people to thank for it!! I wanted to first thank our Task Force, including our national and local members. They have worked tirelessly, doing a million different jobs. Your dedication and hard work have been inspiring. I also wanted to thank all those that supported the cause by writing letters to your legislators, meeting with your legislators, visiting the Capitol and supporting in any way that you were able. This truly was a team effort, and it was the work of many people, doing many different tasks that made it such a success.

As always, please continue to keep up with the government relations page of the MTAG website and Facebook as well as look for emails from the Task Force to stay up to date on the next steps. We will keep you abreast of the bill's progress as it goes through the next phase of writing rules and regulations.

Thank you again for all your support and hard work!
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Recognition Breakfast: A Huge Success for Advocacy Efforts in Georgia

National Conference 2011

MTAG sponsored a recognition breakfast during AMTA's National Conference in Atlanta this past November. Legislators, administrators and parents were recognized for their advocacy efforts on behalf of the music therapy profession in our state. Georgia legislators were able to meet with Task Force members as well as legislators from Nevada and North Dakota, two states that recently obtained licensure for music therapy (pictured in photo above). Since the breakfast, the Task Force has continued to dialogue with GA legislators about potentially moving forward with licensure in our state. Task force members will follow-up on these dialogues when they meet with legislators in the new year to further discuss our movement toward the state recognition of music therapy.