A storm brewed inside and out of the Texas Capitol on Tuesday, May 6, as physicians, medical students, and Texas Medical Association Alliance members braved rain and thunder to unite during TMA’s final First Tuesdays at the Capitol of the 2025 legislative session. Their mission: to defend medicine against harmful legislation that could expand scope of practice, let health plans go unchecked, and weaken vaccine access, among other would-be detriments.
On the first Tuesday of every month during state legislative sessions, TMA members converge on the Texas Capitol to explain to legislators how their proposals could impact the practice of medicine in the state. This year, a cumulative 1,500 Texas physicians attended the in-person gatherings and the virtual presentations held the night before.
Champion of medicine Sen. Donna Campbell, MD (R-New Braunfels), kicked off the morning’s briefing by thanking TMA member physicians for doing just that and more when, last week, they overwhelmingly testified to oppose the harmful scope expansion bill Senate Bill 3055 as it went before the Senate State Affairs Committee on May 1.
“It made a difference to have voice after voice … protect the standard of health care that we have for Texans. It is a mission of love,” Senator Campbell, a New Braunfels emergency medicine physician, said to resounding applause.
It was the second time this session in about as many weeks that TMA physicians showed up in force on behalf of medicine.
Invigorated by Senator Campbell’s words, and armed with information straight from TMA legislative updates, Texas physicians rained upon legislators’ offices to combat a host of other bad bills, like those that could favor insurance companies in claims disputes, create unregulated health plans, and reduce patients’ access to routine vaccines.
Houston emergency physician Arlo Weltge, MD, told Texas Medicine Today that this year’s First Tuesdays at the Capitol have been “incredibly important” to TMA’s efforts to lay contentious health care bills to rest.
“Every legislative office we’ve been into was impressed [by] … the physicians who showed up en masse,” he said. “That left a lasting impression.”
“This is why we fight so hard,” TMA President G. Ray Callas, MD, succinctly said during the early-morning briefing.
As the 2025 Texas legislative session winds down to its June 2 close, TMA Council on Legislation Chair Zeke Silva, MD, says the association’s advocacy approach has shifted in the past weeks from an offensive stance to a defensive one.
As members aid TMA’s efforts to defend against dangerous legislation, Dr. Silva said he’s “so pleased” by how many Texas physicians attended May’s First Tuesdays, especially as the association prepares for its annual policymaking conference, TexMed.
“Now, in May, the perspective is very different. Now we’re more reactive … to bills we oppose,” the San Antonio radiologist told Texas Medicine Today. “I can’t imagine a busier week for TMA, and the fact that this many physicians took time away from their personal and professional lives to be here just shows how deep their commitment runs.”
Missed First Tuesdays at the Capitol this year? Read Texas Medicine Today for coverage of the 2025 legislative session and keep an eye out for other upcoming TMA events and conferences.
Alisa Pierce
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1469