Texas psychiatrists are the latest group to gear up for a legislative battle over a proposal that would extend prescribing privileges to psychologists.

While several other states have already achieved veteran status in these battles—all successfully fending off psychologist prescribing bills so far—this is the first round for psychiatrists and their allies in the nation’s second most populous state.

The Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians (TSPP) recently learned that the Texas Psychological Association is doing the ground work necessary to have a state legislator introduce a bill in the next legislative session expanding psychologists’ scope of practice to include the right to prescribe psychoactive medications. That legislative session begins next January.

The TSPP is hoping its members are sufficiently alarmed about the prospect of mentally ill people receiving these medications from nonphysicians that they will get involved in this year’s state legislative campaigns. In November all seats in the Texas House of Representatives and half of those in the state Senate are up for election.

In March TSPP President David Axelrad, M.D., began appointing members of a new initiative called Political Action Task Force 2000, which will be a critical component of the TSPP’s strategy for heading off psychologist-prescribing bills. In each of the district branch’s 16 chapters, Axelrad is naming a coordinator who will try to involve colleagues in the state elections.

He told Psychiatric News that the coordinators and the committees they will chair will have three goals—to develop relationships with local legislators and educate them about mental health issues, to identify and assist in the campaigns of lawmakers and candidates "who support patient protections and psychiatrists’ interests," and to raise money for these candidates’ campaigns.

Through the most recent edition of the TSPP newsletter, Axelrad and Executive Director John Bush have informed their members about several types of campaign activities that could help elect candidates supportive of its views. These include volunteering in a campaign office, contributing money, distributing literature or making telephone calls on behalf of a candidate, creating an event that honors a lawmaker or candidate, and helping a candidate pay off his or her election debts after the campaign.

Any of these endeavors can pay off in the form of greater access to and a strong relationship with someone who will help determine whether Texas psychologists gain the right to prescribe medications for people with psychiatric disorders.

"We are optimistic that we’ll beat the psychologists" on the nonphysician prescribing issue, Axelrad stated, adding that the Texas Medical Association has pledged to make the issue a priority on its legislative agenda.