When we return from the holidays, Alabama's 2018 legislative session will be days away! Session will begin on January 9 and is expected to end on April 24. As such, we ask that you take a minute to catch up on the policies we're working on in Alabama. 

As an aside, please note that Britney Garner, Alabama Government Relations Director, is on maternity leave and is expected to return on February 1. During the interim, please contact [email protected] regarding policy, [email protected] about grassroots, and [email protected] for immediate assistance. 

Action Needed 

• Invite friends, family and volunteers to follow @YouretheCureAL on Twitter and like American Heart Association - Alabama on Facebook for the latest advocacy information. Feel free to share or retweet any posted information on your work or personal social media accounts. 
• Ask friends, family and volunteers to join You're the Cure at www.yourethecure.org/join.   

Key Dates 

• Session will start January 9th at noon in both chambers.

Campaign Updates 

State Campaigns  

Telephone CPR (T-CPR or TeleCPR): AHA has decided to launch a campaign for TeleCPR, which would require all 911 telecommunicators that provide dispatch for emergency medical conditions be trained in the delivery of high quality telephone CPR.  This will be our top priority during session. We are in the process of securing bill sponsors. We'll keep you posted as bills are filed and move through the legislative process.  

Smoke-free Alabama: AHA, ACS-CAN, and Lung are meeting with partners to see if there is interest to move forward with a statewide smokefree bill. We will be having internal meetings over the next couple of months to lay out groundwork for the upcoming years.   

Healthy Food Financing Initiatives (HFFI): We are working to secure $5 million from different sources of revenue (state, federal, and private partnerships) to start the revolving loan fund. We have been given $300,000 for seed monies to help HHFI thanks to Senator Singleton finding a method. We had a meeting with ADECA for final procedures on the legislation and monies we have secured and to discuss a pipeline of projects that we can use $300,000.  The program has gone live on the ADECA website. The deadline to apply for funds is December 20. The core team continues to meet to discuss next steps about future revenue measures.

Local Campaigns  

Smoke-free Air: The core team has decided to continue working on local issues and will build a case for the statewide bill to come in future years. Be looking for new and additional information on local campaigns in Tuscaloosa, Hoover and Pelham. In Pelham, we are meeting with a new city council member to educate on model ordinances, as well as other Birmingham cities and how they achieved smokefree. Also, the community of Irondale is looking for members of the community to serve as community coalition partners. Having volunteer-based support to push the city council members to bring up though ordinances will be important. If you or any volunteers would like to be engaged in these campaigns, please email Britney Garner. The Alabama Department of Health is working on community assessments; we will release their results as soon as they are shared.  
 
Complete Streets – Birmingham: The coalition continues to meet to work out strategy and tactics moving forward. We will be creating a grassroots and marketing plan that should be implemented in the few weeks. The coalition is hoping for the policy to be adopted by the end of the calendar year and begin the implementation of the policy with any new transportation projects next year. If you would like to be engaged in this local campaign, contact  Alex Carmack. 

In Other News   

Articles of Interest: 

• 'An uphill fight': What's next for Senator-elect Doug Jones? (AL.com)
• Rep. Richard Lindsey, veteran Democratic lawmaker, retiring from Alabama House (AL.com)
• Stacy Lee George drops out of governor's race, endorses Ivey (AL.com)
• Alabama school officials want extra $144 million for K-12 in 2019 (AL.com)

Key Leadership to Know: 

• Speaker of the House: Rep. Mac McCutcheon of Huntsville   
• Speaker Pro Tempore: Rep. Victor Gaston of Mobile  
• House Majority Leader Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter of Rainsville  
• House Minority Leader: Rep. Anthony Daniels of Huntsville  
• Chair of House Health Committee: Rep. April Weaver of Shelby County    
• Senate President Pro Tempore: Sen. Del Marsh of Anniston    
• Senate Majority Leader: Sen. Greg Reed of Jasper    
• Senate Minority Leader: Sen. Quinton Ross of Montgomery    
• Chair of Senate Health Committee: Sen. Gerald Dial of Lineville    
• Board of Education State Superintendent Interim: Ed Richardson