A passion for grassroots

Excerpted from page 42 of the Winter 2024 edition of AOA Focus 

“Stay strong and keep advocating for your patients.” 

Those words, Johndra McNeely, O.D., could hardly get out before a standing ovation erupted throughout the AOA’s House of Delegates in June 2024. In announcing a late-breaking court decision that deemed constitutional South Carolina’s Eye Care Consumer Protection Law, Dr. McNeely was tying the bow on an eight-year legal battle against Visibly, the online vision testing company. It was a battle the South Carolinian had seen from the start—and one she’d seen through to the end. 

In that moment the profession knew everything it needed to about Dr. McNeely—she’s a steady, unrelenting and persistent force advocating for optometry. 

Former chair of the AOA’s State Government Relations Committee (SGRC), Dr. McNeely has led an all-star group of volunteers, optometrists and affiliate staff leaders who work tirelessly to support affiliates’ statehouse advocacy efforts across the nation. There when you need them, the SGRC leverages a who’s who of advocates ready at a moment’s notice to share hard-earned experiences and insight with advocacy teams. And Dr. McNeely’s road to chairship is certainly one paved through experience. 

In a Q&A with AOA Focus, she discusses the importance of grassroots advocacy, statehouse strategy and where optometry is heading next. 

How did you initially get involved on the AOA’s SGRC? 

The first time I learned that the AOA even had a committee on state government was my first time at Presidents’ Council when I was vice president of the South Carolina Optometric Physicians Association (SCOPA). SCOPA was working on a patient protection bill—which we passed, was vetoed by then Gov. Nikki Haley and then the veto was ultimately overridden. I had been learning about meeting legislators from my mentor and fellow board member, Dr. Pete Smith. After we passed our patient protection bill, we worked on passing a [department of motor vehicle] vision screening bill and killing a “name tag” bill. Of course, the wins were motivating, but I love the strategy-making required to move bills through. SCOPA leveraged the AOA’s SGRC through all of these legislative efforts and they were a huge help to us. I volunteered in a statehouse campaign race and that win solidified my passion for grassroots. I was appointed to the SGRC, and it has been an awesome experience serving as a member and committee chair. 

Having served on the SGRC for seven years, how have you seen the issues change? 

All of our efforts have significantly ramped up over the past seven years. Scope and vision plan legislation efforts are what we have primarily been working on recently. Along with our great SGRC staff members, we have put together a lot of documents to be used in scope battles. As vision plans have become more detrimental to our practices, a smaller group on the committee has put together new model language for vision plan legislation based on language from the Texas and Oklahoma wins. With the strength and experience of our staff and committee members, we are getting better with what we provide. We monitor all legislation filed across the country, which has helped a number of states defend against hurtful bills from 1-800 Contacts and those so-called “not-a-doctor” bills. 

But as it relates to scope of practice, how does SGRC go about working with affiliates? 

The SGRC loves working with states from the beginning of their bill planning, especially for scope. It takes several years of work for states to get totally prepared to file a scope bill. We like to start with grassroots training, building the keyperson structure, PAC fundraising, etc. We have a three-year calendar that is meant to help build up to dropping a bill. We encourage states to start working toward filling out the FPI (AOA Future Practice Initiative) checklist as early as possible to be best prepared to pass or defend a bill and to be able to apply for funds to help cross the finish line during a hard-fought laser bill. 

There were some significant state advocacy battles this year, but what does the SGRC expect for 2025 and beyond? 

I think 2025 will be an exciting legislative session for the committee! We would love to see those well-prepared states add to our laser and vision plan achievements nationwide. We do expect more not-a-doctor bills and we look forward to seeing our states maintain their autonomy by crushing those efforts. Going forward, with the aging of the U.S. population, decreasing availability of ophthalmologists and the high-quality education that our students are already receiving, optometry must be prepared to expand to that next level! 

Learn about the AOA’s support of state advocacy.   

Save the date!   

If AOA state affiliates are interested in elevating advocacy in their states, save these dates for the AOA State Government Relations Center (SGRC) Regional Advocacy Meetings in 2025.   

Aug 15-16 in Chicago, Illinois  

Oct. 24-25 in Phoenix, Arizona   

Registration will open soon, and additional details will come.