Tagged: Boston University School of Law
The Future of Supervised Injection Sites in Massachusetts and Beyond
With Massachusetts and the country facing a rising opioid overdose epidemic, lawmakers are looking to some controversial measures to curb overdose deaths. One of those measures being considered is supervised injection sites, also called safe injection sites or safe consumption spaces. Safe consumption spaces, of which there are 100 worldwide, are clean spaces where people can legally use pre-obtained drugs with supervision from healthcare professionals who aim to make injections as safe as possible while providing health care, counseling, and referral services to addicts. While safe injection sites have been successfully implemented in Canada, Australia, and Europe over the past 30 years, attempts to create such sites in San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and more U.S. cities have not yet been successful. Beyond policy arguments as to whether these sites are effective, sites in the United States also face significant legal hurdles under federal law.
According to supporters of safe injection sites around the country and the world, the policy is an effective and relatively low-cost way to prevent overdose deaths and manage harm with no demonstrated consequences of increased drug use or increased crime. Opponents of safe injection sites, including Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, have pointed to increased opioid deaths in
The Massachusetts State House
Boston, 1787
recent years in Vancouver, which established its supervised consumption site Insite in 2003, to argue that safe injection sites are not actually effective in preventing overdose deaths. However, those arguments are misleading, as experts have stated that the increase in overdose deaths in Vancouver are due to the influx of fentanyl being added to drugs, and that Insite actually saw a 35% reduction in overdose deaths around the facility in the two years after it opened. While there are also studies questioning the efficacy of safe consumption sites—calling into question whether they have a significant impact on reducing deaths and reaching a significant amount of drug users—even the negative studies generally criticize safe consumption sites as being relatively ineffective as opposed to actively harmful. There are dozens of peer-reviewed scientific studies that have found that safe injection sites actually do significantly benefit those who are addicted to opioids and prevent opioid deaths. Notably, no death has ever been reported in an injection site, and a review of studies concluded that injection sites were associated with less outdoor drug use and did not appear to have any negative impacts on crime or drug use.
Despite the strong evidence backing the societal benefits of implementing and supporting safe injection sites, the policy faces significant legal and political obstacles in the United States. Perhaps the biggest hurdle that advocates of safe injection sites face is the potential legal liability of such sites under federal law and opposition from the Justice Department. The Controlled Substances Act makes it illegal to “knowingly open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any place, whether permanently or temporarily, for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance,” as well as to knowingly manage such a place. The plain language of that law may render implementation of safe injection sites impossible without some change or exception carved out in federal law.
However, advocates of safe injection sites do have a glimmer of hope that, once the first U.S. site is created, it will pass judicial muster through a creative legal argument proposed by law professor and drug policy expert Alex Kreit. In his paper, Kriet argues that a provision in the Controlled Substances Act providing immunity to state and local officials who commit drug crimes while enforcing local laws could protect safe injection sites from a crackdown by the federal government. Kreit has stated that the infrequently cited rule has previously been used in situations where authorities have seized marijuana and then returned it in states where marijuana has been legalized. Under this theory, those involved in safe injection sites would be protected so long as they were acting in accordance with a city ordinance or state law supporting safe injection sites. Other experts have expressed skepticism that such an argument would pass muster, however, with some stating that Kreit’s argument is a “stretch,” and that any path toward legality for safe injection sites lies in convincing the federal government not to target safe injection sites on public health grounds.
If cities and states cannot find a legal workaround protecting those involved with the safe injection sites, advocates likely face an uphill battle in convincing their communities and the Justice Department to accept injection sites. Attempts at establishing sites have not been politically palatable, as demonstrated by efforts in San Francisco and Boston. California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have allowed supervised drug consumption sites in the state and went so far as to describe it as “enabling illegal drug use.” In Massachusetts, in addition to Governor Baker’s opposition to the idea of safe injection sites, the Senate ultimately stripped a provision authorizing safe injection sites from its comprehensive opioid bill this past legislative session, instead replacing the pilot program with a commission to study the feasibility of establishing such sites. In addition to opposition from state Governors and a lack of strong state government support, it seems highly unlikely that the current federal administration would turn a blind eye to safe injection sites on public health grounds. In addition to a statement from the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office criticizing the policy and affirming that the United States Attorney would impose ramifications under federal law, there have been multiple other instances indicating the administration’s hostility towards safe injection sites and similar policies. In August, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote an op-ed in the New York Times opposing safe injection sites and emphasizing the fact that they violate federal law. The Justice Department also “promise[d] [a] crackdown” on supervised injection facilities on an NPR radio show.
While there is scientific and global community support for safe injection sites, their future in the United States is still unclear, especially under the current federal administration. Until there are more assurances that sites could operate without intervention from federal law enforcement, it seems that most cities and states that have been at the forefront of the push for safe injection sites do not have the political will or capital to open the country’s first site and become the guinea pig of the movement. Philadelphia, however, may be the one city willing to go first. In August, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said that Rosenstein’s opposition and warnings from the Justice Department would not prevent Philadelphia officials from further exploring the idea. Currently, Philadelphia seems to be going forward with its plan to allow, but not publicly fund, a non-profit site called Safehouse, which could serve as a jumping off point for litigation determining the legality of the sites and potentially creating more certainty for other interested cities and states. As for Massachusetts, it seems unlikely that the Commonwealth will be establishing any safe injection sites in the near future, though the members of the commission created in last session’s opioid bill will no doubt keep a close eye on Philadelphia as its safe injection site plan comes to fruition.
Curbing Medicare Drug Costs
Prescription drug spend in the U.S. is the highest in the world. Americans pay up to three times the amount per capita of other countries. This is problematic for our growing aging population since their income becomes limited. While Medicare covers prescription drug costs, there are policy gaps that make it unaffordable. One major barrier to price controls is part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, in which explicitly prohibits the federal government “from negotiating directly with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices”. President Donald Trump proposed several policies to reduce the cost burden of prescription drugs on consumers through free-market competition approach, focusing mainly on cost transparency and promoting use of biosimilar or generic drugs. The policies are praised as a “small step in the right direction”. Yet, many Americans are dissatisfied since the proposals do not include direct Medicare negotiations with drug manufacturers. Pharmaceuticals argue that price controls would strain their investments in research and development (R&D) of new drugs. After taking a closer look, that is not fully the case. Greater price control measures can be taken, but there must be political will to support it. For now, the President’s policies are a small victory for seniors across America.
Medicare Coverage Today
Prescription drugs are covered under Medicare Part A, B, and C plans, but to a limited capacity. Part A is hospital insurance, part B is traditional medical insurance, and part C (Medicare Advantage) is like a health maintenance organization (HMO) or preferred provider organization (PPO) plan type. Only drugs administered within these respective settings are covered. Because of these limitations, the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 was enacted, creating Medicare part D drug benefit.
Part D is an “optional” supplemental insurance that can be purchased with any of the other Medicare plans. It, however, is severely flawed. First, Congress did not commit any financing for part D, leaving costs falling on the recipient. Second, and most notoriously, is the “donut hole” coverage gap between initial enrollment and a “catastrophic coverage threshold”. The entry-point coverage limit is currently $3,750. Once this amount is reached, the patient is then responsible for fully paying for their medication until the maximum amount of the out-of-pocket (OOP) costs have been paid, or the annual time period lapsed. The OOP threshold now is $5,100, unaffordable for many seniors that suffer multiple chronic conditions.
Additionally, the plan disincentivizes patients from purchasing brand name drugs by increasing patient coinsurance payments. Provisions of the Affordable Care Act attempted to close this gap by 2020 by limiting patient payments to 25% of the gap. Under the Trump Administration, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 advanced that date to 2019. Another caveat to Part D is that it is not really “optional”. If an individual fails to sign up once qualified and decides to enroll later, they will pay penalty fees for as long as they are on part D, with the exception of a few circumstances, such as having drug coverage from an employer.
The President’s Policies
To mitigate the Medicare drug coverage issues, the Trump Administration released his “blueprint” rules and policies, supplemental to the Bipartisan Budget Act. Provisions that went into effect include:
- “Step therapy” rule within the Medicare Advantage plans- clinicians are to prescribe cheaper drugs and monitor patient progress closely. If the drug is found to be ineffective, then a clinician can prescribe the next expensive drug. Clinicians in the Advantage plan get commission for the drugs they provide. The rationale is to curb physicians from “gaming” for greater profits. This rule is now in effect.
- Taking harder action, the President recently signed legislation to ban “gag clauses” that prevented pharmacists from disclosing the best drug prices with customers. This is helpful for those who may be in the coverage gap of part D and would have to pay full price of the drug.
Other policies proposed and will likely be revisited for the upcoming session include:
- Limiting doctor’s offices to charge consumer price index (CPI) of drugs administered in their office.
- Shifting drugs from part B to D to promote greater market competition among drug makers to lower prices.
- Allowing drug rebates to go to the consumer rather than the healthcare provider or health plan.
- Promoting the use of biosimilars and generic biotechnology drugs.
- Closing loopholes, such as the 180-day exclusivity that allow brand-name drug companies to “game” Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules in ways that hinder generic competition.
- Requiring drug manufacturers to disclose list prices in their advertisements.
These policies are a great step towards drug price controls. Yet, many argue that true price controls could only be achieved by allowing Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices. Perhaps that may be the case, as demonstrated by many other rich democracies. Pharmaceuticals, however, dispute this on the grounds that it would limit R&D investments.
In a recent study, Yu et al. evaluated the “top 15 drug companies in 2015” and found that the inflated prices are not justified by the R&D costs. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) laws and regulations require all public holding companies to publically disclose their financial statements. Knowing this, I reviewed the 2017 financial report of the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, Pfizer. Their R&D costs were $7.7 billion and accounted for 14.7% of their reported revenue of $52.5 billion. After discounting other expenses, their net income was $21.4 billion, allowing them to maintain 40.6% in profits. These figures are not uncommon. According to the International Trade Association, 15-20% of gross revenues is how much U.S. pharmaceutical companies spend on average on R&D (with the exception of the few that price gouged). In other countries, the R&D investments are much less, but drug costs are also lower.
Given these figures, it is of no surprise that advocates for better price controls are not convinced that R&Ds should be the main reason to maintain the inflated drug costs. Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEAs) may help determine the value of the drug, however it would likely, by default, favor biosimilars and generic drugs. In that case, the promotion of these drugs employed by the Federal government serve as a cost-effectiveness measure to some extent. For drugs that treat severe progressive conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease or multiple sclerosis, it may be difficult to ascertain a value on new treatments since outcomes are unique to a patient’s condition. Moreover, measures involved in formal CEAs are derived from nationally administered quality/disability-adjusted life-year (Q/D-ALY) surveys of healthy people, thus not capturing the value of the treatment for those who are ill.
The President’s policies may not be perfect, but it is an experiment worth trying. Prior policies that attempted to “assist” our elderly population have failed, leaving those with chronic conditions and limited incomes forgoing treatment due to the high cost. For advocates of government price-fixing, it is important to keep in mind how much will prices be limited to, and it would likely require government to subsidize a portion of R&Ds. It is difficult to imagine that government would be willing to make such an investment if they are barely subsidizing part D costs.
Sarah Zahakos, MPH is working toward a PhD in Health Law, Policy & Management at the Boston University School of Public Health.
AHRQ T32 Research Fellow
Training in Health Services Research for Vulnerable Populations
Grant # 2T32HS022242
References
• Bartlett, B. (2013, November 13). Medicare Part D: Republican budget-busting. New York Times. Retrieved from https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/medicare-part-d-republican-budget-busting/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018, November 15). Cost-effectiveness nalysis: Outcomes in natural units. Retrieved from
Cubanski, J., Koma, W., Damico, A., and Neuman, T. (November 19, 2018). Medicare: ow many seniors live in poverty? Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/how-many-seniors-live-in-poverty/
eHealth (2018, November 16). HMO insurance plans. Retrieved from:
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/health-plans/hmo
eHealth (2018, November 16). PPO insurance plans. Retrieved from
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/health-plans/ppo
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [2018, November 15]. Biosimilar and interchangeable products. Retrieved from
Hederman, Jr., R.S. (2018, August 11). New Medicare drug pricing rule — a small 'step' in the right direction. The Hill. Retrieved from
H.R.1 - Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.
Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/house-bill/1
International Trade Association (2018, November 15). 2016 top markets report
pharmaceuticals. Retrieved from
https://www.trade.gov/topmarkets/pdf/Pharmaceuticals_Executive_Summary.pdf
Kaiser Family Foundation (2018, October 12). An overview of the Medicare Part D
prescription drug benefit. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/medicare/fact-sheet/an-overview-of-the-medicare-part-d-prescription-drug-benefit/
Lagasse, J. (2018, September 13). Most Americans disapprove of how Trump, Congress
are addressing prescription drug costs, poll shows. Retrieved from
Medicare.gov (2018, November 15). How to get drug coverage. Retrieved from
https://www.medicare.gov/index.php/drug-coverage-part-d/how-to-get-drug-coverage
Moeller, P. (2018, February 14). President Trump signed these Medicare changes into
law. Here’s what to watch for. PBS. Retrieved from
National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago (2018, November
15). What should be done about the high cost of prescription drugs? Retrieved from
Part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act. Retrieved from
Pear, R. (2018, October 10). Trump signs new laws aimed at drug costs and battles
democrats on Medicare. New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/us/politics/trump-health-insurance-drug-costs.html
Pearl, R. (2018, September 24). The immorality of prescription drug pricing in America.
Forbes. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2018/09/24/nostrum/#614ba37a4fb1
Pfizer (2018, November 15). 2017 financial report. Retrieved from
https://s21.q4cdn.com/317678438/files/doc_financials/Annual/2017/Financial-Report-2017.pdf
Securities and Exchange Commission (2018, November 16). Rules and regulations for
the Securities and Exchange Commission and major securities laws. Retrieved from https://www.sec.gov/about/laws/secrulesregs.htm
Sarnak, D.O., Squires, D., & Bishop, S. (2017, October 5). Paying for prescription drugs
around the World: Why is the U.S. an outlier? Commonwealth Fund. Retrieved from
Trump Administration (2018, May 30). American patients first: The Trump Administration
blueprint to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/AmericanPatientsFirst.pdf
Yu, N.L., Helms, Z., & Bach, P.B. (2017). R&D costs for pharmaceutical companies do
not explain elevated US drug prices. Health Affairs.
doi: 10.1377/hblog20170307.059036
Massachusetts Regulates Short-Term Rentals
Massachusetts’s Governor Baker signed An Act Regulating and Insuring Short-Term Rentals on December 28, 2018. The act regulates short-term rentals provided through services like Airbnb. The governor rejected an earlier version of the bill, and returned amendments primarily allowing for an exemption for owners who rent out their property for two weeks or less per year, and reducing the amount of information provided publicly about rentals owners. The bill was motivated by concerns that the rise in short-term rentals drives up housing costs and pushing out long-term residents. The statewide bill comes after both Boston and Cambridge individually passed laws essentially having the same effects. However, the Boston law was challenged by Airbnb, who filed suit in federal court claiming that the regulations are “Orwellian” and violate several laws, including laws that protect online companies from being held liable for the actions of their users. The city of Boston is currently holding off on some of the regulations passed pending the resolution of the court case. Airbnb had not yet said if it will challenge the new Massachusetts law.
The statewide law has two main components: first, that all short-term rentals are taxed by the Commonwealth, and can be additionally taxed by local governments, and second, that all owners of short-term rental properties must register with the state and hold insurance. The registration requirement was a cause of debate. 
Lawmakers, including Governor Baker, were concerned about violating the privacy of owners by publishing their names and addresses publically. In the amendments to the July bill that Governor Baker rejected, the registration requirement was changed so that only the owner’s neighborhood and street name would be published, not their exact address. The law also dictates eligibility in order to register. To be eligible to be a short-term housing unit, the space must be compliant with housing code, be owner-occupied and be classified for residential use, among other requirements. Another cause of debate was an exemption for occasional renters. Governor Baker originally wanted owners who rent their properties for 150 days or less to be exempt from the regulations. However, in the final version of the bill, the exemption was decreased to 14 days.
Not surprisingly, the hotel industry supports the bill. Paul Sacco, the President and CEO of Massachusetts Lodging Association, said:
“This is a tremendous victory for municipal leaders and the people of Massachusetts who have been waiting for years while Airbnb rentals have exploded, resulting in skyrocketing housing costs and disruptions in local neighborhoods. By adopting a more level playing field between short-term rentals and traditional lodgers, lawmakers made great strides toward a more fair and sensible system.”
Airbnb had a far less enthusiastic response however. In citing concerns about the property owners who use Airbnb to earn extra income, Airbnb said that they would “continue the fight to protect our community and the economic engine of short-term rentals for hosts, guests, and local small businesses”
While Massachusetts is the first state to pass a law, many other cities have passed similar laws in the recent years. In Nashville, the city passed a law in January which focused on taxing short-term rentals that are not owner-occupied in order to fund affordable housing development in the city. The “linkage fee” tax is controversial, with lawmakers questioning if the fees generated are enough to actually impact the lack of low-income housing within the city. Seattle passed a similar tax law in November 2017. The legislation aims to encourage owners who rent out a spare bedroom and discourage investors who buy entire buildings for use as short-term rentals. Finally, New York City passed regulations in July 2018 which requires Airbnb, and other similar companies, to provide information about the properties listed for rental within the city. However, Airbnb sued in federal court claiming that the requirement to provide information to the city violated the company’s fourth amendment right against search and seizure. The law was set to take effect in February 2019, however the Judge granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Airbnb saying, “The city has not cited any decision suggesting that the government appropriation of private business records on such a scale, unsupported by individualized suspicion or any tailored justification, qualifies as a reasonable search and seizure.”
Jessica A. Hartman is a member of the Boston University School of Law Class of 2020.
Can Single-Payer Really Happen?
Healthcare is on the frontlines of legislative debates— the U.S. has the most expensive care and reports the poorest outcomes of all rich democracies (RDs). Several states have proposed legislation to innovate healthcare access and to safeguard against the destruction of the ACA. One “old idea” that recently gained momentum is single-payer, and for New York (NY), it may become a reality, with its fate resting with the new legislature. To date, only one state has briefly “experimented” with single-payer – Vermont, and it failed due to gross underestimation of its costs. In NY, a landmark study that evaluates the viability of NY’s single-payer bill, known as the New York Health Act (NYHA), conducted by RAND, detailed benefits and setbacks of the proposed legislation, and public reaction was mixed. Despite the not so encouraging findings, lessons can still be learned from this report.
Single-payer, coined as “Medicare for all”, is a health insurance system in which a single public agency organizes healthcare financing, ideally covering all types of essential healthcare services. Delivery of care itself, however, would remain largely private in a single-payer system.
Proposals for single-payer in the U.S. are not new. The earliest version came in 1943 by Senators Robert Wagner (D-New York), James Murray (D-Montana), and Representative John Dingell, Sr. (D-Michigan), known as the Wagner-Murray-Dingell Bill (and subsequently endorsed by President Truman in 1945). The post-World War II bill proposed funding health care through payroll and income taxes. The bill became entangled with the Cold War , was vilified as “socialized medicine” by its opponents, and was discarded. The idea was revived in the 1950s, when it was nearly impossible for an aging population to get private health insurance. The elderly advocated for subsidized coverage since they are no longer able to afford their care, and hospitals advocated for it to ensure that the healthcare services they provide were paid for. The result: Medicare was enacted in 1965— the first form of single-payer insurance in the U.S.
Single-payer is gaining popularity once again. According to a Reuters poll, 70% of Americans support some form of single-payer coverage. Why? First, with the implementation of the ACA, there was a national momentum for states to expand their healthcare coverage. The health exchange created by the ACA made coverage accessible for many middle-income families and individuals. On the Medicaid side, progressive states elected to expand their eligibility coverage for individuals earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level in exchange for a 50% match in federal subsidies, a benefit many states enjoy. The most appealing provision of all is the mandated coverage of pre-existing conditions. With the all Republican take-over of the federal government in 2016, many Americans worried about what would happen to their coverage. Over the next two years, the ACA underwent congressional budget cuts, but despite efforts by Congress and President Trump, the ACA has grown in popularity with the general public.
In NY, the concept of single-payer was first introduced in 1992 by Assembly member Richard Gottfried (NY-D). The goal of NYHA is to provide universal insurance coverage with no cost-sharing for New Yorkers, regardless of legal status, and would cover almost all comprehensive services. Bill proponents expect increased access to care and reduced costs by removing high administrative overhead costs and reducing unjustifiably high prescription drug costs. Much like the Wagner-Murray-Dingell Bill, NYHA would be funded through payroll and income taxes. Since 2015, the NYHA has passed the Assembly floor four times. Although 31 state senators co-signed the bill, it has been stopped in the Senate by just one vote. This may now change with the Democrats taking back the Senate majority, although the cost may be a deterrent.
Despite the national and legislative enthusiasm, New Yorkers have been skeptical of single-payer reform. According to a 2018 Mercury Public Affairs poll, only 33% support the bill. Over 60%, however, said they would support increased subsidies to assist low and middle-income families. Why the opposition? The number one reason of 66% polled: taxes would pose a high burden.
The RAND study assessed “near-term” and “long-term” impacts of the bill. Overall, it found that single-payer would be viable, but with big caveats. The system would expand health care access, all while generating an estimated $15 billion in net savings (3.1%) on healthcare costs by 2031. Still, near-term are where the problems lie. From the political side, this would require the federal government to issue a waiver to redirect all federal and state funds to NYHA. Just weeks prior to this report, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services called California’s similar proposal “unworkable” and indicated similar waivers would not be approved. On the fiscal side, health care reform comes with a steep price: $139 billion in additional state tax revenue would be needed by 2022, that is 156% more than what is currently being collected. This amount would be amassed through payroll and income tax that would supplant the employer contribution and premiums and out-of-pocket costs. RAND applied a generic tax schedule based on three income brackets. For low-income families, they would be taxed 6.1% of their payroll income and 6.2% for non-payroll income by 2022. For middle-income families, the rates would range from 12.2% to 12.4%, and for high-income, their tax rate would increase up to 18.3% - nearly three times of what they are paying now. Moreover, Medicaid and Essential Plan (i.e. the NY Health Exchange) enrollees would pay more to get healthcare coverage. Assembly member Gottfried praised the study and suggested that they can adjust taxes accordingly so that high income families would pay more in taxes in order to help low and middle-income families afford their care. These tax hikes would exceed the combined costs of what New Yorkers are currently paying in taxes and healthcare benefits—explaining the bill’s unpopularity. Using the RAND report as a guide, it is likely that the state legislature will explore mechanisms to help finance their proposal in the upcoming session.
New York State Capitol
Albany 1899
While single-payer hasn’t had much luck in the U.S., universal care payment methods, including single-payer, have been successful in other RDs. Regardless of each RD’s financing method, there is one consistent feature of success: national political will to implement it. Imagine if the politics of the cold war did not interfere with establishing a national health insurance plan? Would it have been possible to implement a streamlined and efficient plan? If our culture would have capitalized on the Medicare momentum, would we accept a collective sense of community regarding our healthcare? Vermont tried to implement single-payer with little success due to gross budget underestimations and faint national support. The RAND report sheds light on the cost of single-payer and suggests that there needs to be federal political will to support it. Let these findings and other evidence guide lawmakers as the search for a modest solution continues. Perhaps Wagner’s vision may still be a solution.
Sarah Zahakos is working toward a PhD in Health Law, Policy & Management at the Boston University School of Public Health.
AHRQ T32 Research FellowTraining in Health Services Research for Vulnerable PopulationsGrant # 2T32HS022242
Who Will Save the Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network? by Elizabeth Bakibinga-Gaswaga
The bright promise that was the Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network (APKN) is seemingly fading away. This important project, where African parliamentarians and their staff committed to help each other build capacity and share information was making a real difference in the governance of Africa. Sadly, when the United Nation's Department of Economic and Social Advancement (UN/DESA), using funds provided by the government of Italy, stopped supporting the APKN financially a few years ago, the Network not only lost momentum, but seemingly stopped altogether. Just because the Network has been quiet, and perhaps has frayed from lack of use (the Network’s website, APKN.org, is now a Japanese fashion page) does not mean that it is lost. The talented and dedicated people from the various parliaments who made the APKN so promising should take the lead and chart a new course for the Network. This will take participation from across the Continent and should be driven by African voices. This effort will also take money. It is unlikely the UN will be a source-- but perhaps between the APKN members and the partners who have already shown a willingness to support the Network, we can find a new vision and the money to make that vision a reality. For instance, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is a potential partner. This conversation could start at the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (CALC) conference that will take place in Livingstone, Zambia April 1-3, 2019.
The APKN was established in June 2008 by the international conference “Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network - Building Together Open and Learning Parliaments in Africa” in Cairo, Egypt. The APKN operated under the authority of the Speakers and Presidents of APKN member assemblies--30 assemblies in all. Representatives of the APKN assemblies met in plenary every two years to approve the reports of activities, the Executive Committee's strategic action plan, and to set new priorities and goals for the next two years. The Network was “hosted" by a variety of Parliaments who took the lead in putting together conferences and led the Executive Committee. The first host was Egypt, before the turmoil and revolution in that country. The next host was South Africa, and finally the Pan-African Parliament took the lead.
During its short life, the APKN had a string of successes; thanks in large part to the tireless work of the UN/DESA technical advisors, Flavio Zeni and Dr. Cecilia Matanga. The APKN issued a comprehensive set of legislative drafting guidelines for use across the Continent to allow better informatics sharing while remaining true to best practices in legislative drafting. An assembly of drafters from APKN countries refined and ratified the Guidelines at a 2010 conference in Cape Town South Africa. In 2011, UN/DESA, in conjunction with the APKN issued a handbook on designing legislation for the free use of drafters everywhere.
Perhaps the greatest victory is that earlier this year the legislative platform designed for APKN, Akoma Ntoso V1.0 became the newest Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) Standard— the only OASIS standard with an African name (“linked hearts” in the Akan language of West Africa) to honor those who nurtured and promoted the platform. This platform is used by many institutions around the world — the European Parliament, European Commission, the Italian and Swiss parliaments, and other parliaments in both America and Asia. Still, no African parliament has adopted Akoma Ntoso platform —perhaps because of the missing APKN.
APKN served other important functions: one was simply bringing African legislators and drafters together to meet, talk and exchange ideas at periodic conferences. In addition, the APKN LawClinics had law students at Boston University School of Law drafting legislation with African drafters and law students at African universities for parliaments in Uganda, Zambia, Liberia and the East African Legislative Assembly.
Where do we go now? At a conference in 2011, when participants asked what APKN would do next, Flavio Zeni responded, "You are APKN!" The Network was never meant to be driven by the UN or an outside partner such as a European parliament or American university. African parliamentarians and African drafters must lead the Network and give it vitality.
Should there be a website to share legislative ideas and language like the United States' National Council of State Legislatures? Should the Network train legislative drafters? Should it train new members of parliament? Should it take position on and suggest methods for legislative reform? Should there be an annual conference, and what would be the goals of that conference?
We will send this posting to the various African parliamentary leaders, those who have been active with the APKN in the past, and to the CALC community at large. If anyone who would like to make suggestions, on either a vision for APKN or a source of funding, we will post the ideas on BU Law’s Dome blog webpage. Our hope is that we can bring several potential suggestions to the CALC conference in April for discussion amongst drafters from APKN countries and their allies. Together, we can reinvigorate APKN and support stronger parliaments across Africa.
Elizabeth Bakibinga-Gaswaga was involved in AKPN as a legislative counsel for the Parliament of Uganda and is an active member of CALC. Elizabeth represented Africa on the CALC Executive Council and later served as CALC's Vice President.
Sean J. Kealy is a clinical associate professor of law at Boston University School of Law where he directs the legislative clinical programs. Sean helped organize the APKN LawClinics and is an associate member of CALC
