Relentless advocacy for Emergency Medicine

VACEP is an active voice year-round in Virginia politics. The Emergency Medicine Political Action Committee in Virginia (EMPAC-VA) supports VACEP advocacy with Virginia’s General Assembly. The PAC’s mission ensures our members gain one-on-one opportunities to share emergency medicine’s story, which is invaluable in our efforts to explain complex issues from an emergency physician’s perspective. 

Money doesn’t buy votes, but it does help us build relationships and open doors with lawmakers.

EMPAC-VA contributions help elect candidates — from both sides of the aisle — who listen, learn, and vote to protect our profession, our patients, and Virginia's safety net. In recent years, these relationships have led to new Virginia laws, including:

how can you give? you can:

1. Encourage your entire practice to give. That could be a donation ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 on behalf of all the emergency physicians in your group.

2. Make a one-time donation. The lowest giving level to attend a candidate fundraiser is $250. A donation of $250, $500, $750 or $1,000 will help immensely. 

VACEP has secured significant wins in recent years:

• Passed a law requiring 24/7 physical physician presence in emergency departments.

• Introduced and passed a first-of-its-kind law requiring off-duty police or security officers trained in de-escalation and restraint in every ED 24/7.

• Stood as the ONLY specialty group to oppose less-stringent NP independent practice reqs.

• Led creation of state law to protect patients and families by prohibiting balance billing for out-of-network emergency services.Internal hospital reporting requirements for workplace violence against healthcare providers.

• Supported and passed a bill that gives more flexibility to psychiatric EDs.

• Helped defeat raising of the med mal cap in certain cases.

• Advocated for patients with mental health needs and improvements to state behavioral health system processes.

• Supported physician mental health (federal Lorna Breen Act), tackling boarding, combating workplace violence, and much more.

• Supported legislation allowing paramedics to administer medications in an ED within their scope of training.

This is only a handful of wins. But they didn’t happen by chance — they happened because VACEP showed up, told our story, and backed lawmakers who had ours. EMPAC-VA opens those doors.

2025 EMPAC-VA Contributors

Find your legislator

• If you do not know who your legislators are, find out now! Don’t know your representatives? Find your legislator.

• Look and see which committees your legislators are assigned. VACEP will send alerts to emergency physicians for whom we have an email address, when your legislator is voting in committee on bills we are actively pursuing. Contact information for all House and Senate members is also found on the Virginia General Assembly website.