to see what had already been tried. Through national family medicine and advocacy networks, she connected with states that had worked on similar legislation, gathered copies of bills and asked practical questions: What worked? What failed? What language held up? What compromises weakened the policy? What would fit Utah’s political and legal environment? That kind of preparatory work is one of the least visible but most important parts of the legislative process. By the time a bill is introduced publicly, much of the real shaping has already happened. Successful advocacy often depends on understanding not only what a policy should do, but how it can realistically move through the legislative process. At the same time, Martindale was gathering data from Utah itself. She contacted specialty societies, nursing and advanced practice groups, and other healthcare organizations to determine how pervasive non-competes really were. The answer was clear: they were everywhere, though they varied widely in form. Some were based on mileage radius or county. Some limited work in certain practice settings, and others imposed broader geographic or functional restrictions. The inconsistency was itself revealing. There was no coherent public-interest rationale behind the patchwork. Instead, the agreements were functioning as barriers to mobility in a healthcare system already under strain. Just as importantly, this outreach helped frame the bill as a workforce and patient-care issue, not merely a family medicine issue. That broadened the coalition and strengthened the case for action. Step Two: Find the Right Sponsor In any legislature, a bill needs more than a good idea; it needs a credible champion. Martindale spent nearly two years looking for the right legislative sponsor. That search reflected a practical political reality: in a short, fast-moving session, the name attached to a bill matters. An effective sponsor has relationships, credibility, subject-matter interest and the willingness to keep pushing when a bill stalls or meets resistance. The eventual partner was Rep. Katy Hall, a registered nurse by background, who immediately understood the stakes. Her family had also been affected by a non-compete clause, giving her a personal window into the issue. That combination of policy interest and direct familiarity made Hall a strong fit. She not only agreed to take on the bill; she proved willing to defend its core purpose from the beginning. That part is critical in Utah’s process. Bills rarely move in a straight line. Stakeholders ask for changes. Committees slow things down. Opponents probe for compromise. When that happens, the sponsor sets the tone. A sponsor who signals flexibility on the bill’s central premise can weaken it before the public ever hears about it. A sponsor who clearly defines the non-negotiables gives the bill a spine. On this measure, that mattered. Hall made clear from the outset that the bill would eliminate healthcare non-competes, not merely narrow them. Step Three: Build the Coalition Before the Fight With research in hand and a sponsor secured, the next step was coalition building. Martindale began contacting healthcare organizations and stakeholders across the state, including ACOG, the Utah Medical Association, nursing groups, advanced practice groups and others. Some responded enthusiastically. Some provided examples of contracts and member stories. Others were more cautious. That caution was not always ideological. Sometimes it came from memory. Organizations that had worked around the Capitol for years remembered previous non-compete fights in other sectors as bruising and uncertain. Even groups sympathetic to the goal were not immediately convinced the bill could pass. That is another underappreciated part of lawmaking: Support for a policy and confidence in its viability are not the same thing. A proposal may be morally persuasive yet perceived as politically doomed. One job of advocates is to close that gap. For UAFP, that meant not just making the case but also changing the calculus. A key turning point came through the Utah Medical Association House of Delegates. Martindale drafted a resolution, and family physicians helped bring it forward and speak in support of it. Once it passed, active support for non-compete reform became a UMA priority rather than a peripheral interest. That shift mattered enormously. It transformed a hesitant ally into an engaged one and expanded the bill’s reach at the Capitol. “It’s important for legislators to hear not just from a single entity,” Martindale said, “but from several entities speaking on behalf of their own particular practice.” That breadth signaled that the legislation was not a niche concern. It was a shared healthcare priority. Step Four: Draft the Bill and Test it Against Reality Only after much of that groundwork was laid did the bill move into intensive drafting and negotiation. 10
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