Georgia Session Update: Week 3

Here's week three update!

Key Dates

• January 27: Atlanta Craft Beer Fest, the Smoke-free Atlanta Coalition is sponsoring this event and will have a table with volunteers dispensing information regarding our policy goals.

Campaign Updates

State Campaigns

Telephone CPR:

The American Heart Association is continuing to advocate for the passage of legislation requiring all 911 telecommunicators that provide dispatch for emergency conditions be trained in the delivery of high quality telephone CPR. Currently, we are in the process of finalizing sponsorship of this legislation and will be moving it through the bill drafting process in the coming weeks.

Quality Physical Education:

The Association is also advocating for the passage of physical education assessment legislation. The goal of this policy is to increase accountability reporting of schools to provide quality physical education based on specific assessment measures. Much like with Telephone CPR, this policy is in the process of being drafted into legislation and should emerge as a bill within the coming weeks of session.

Local Campaigns

Smoke-free Atlanta:

As the new city government has been sworn in the smoke-free Atlanta coalition will be actively engaging the city council and mayor in the coming weeks and months. However, the passage of a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance relies on not legislative but community support. To that end, the coalition will be engaging the local community via events and educational activities as January moves forward. Refer to the Key Dates section of this newsletter for the most recent events.

Smoke-free Marietta:

As an official member of the Breath Easy Cobb County Coalition the American Heart Association will be assisting in the launch of a public outreach and education campaign in the coming weeks and months. This will aid in achieving the coalitions goal of advancing smoke-free policies in the City of Marietta. This campaign is still in its planning stages and We will provide updates as it moves into its next stages.

If you live in Atlanta or Marietta and would like to be engaged, please email [email protected].

In Other News

You can keep track of each day of the legislative session by visiting http://www.gpb.org/lawmakers. While there you can view live streams from both chambers of the General Assembly and watch the capital update.

Articles of Interest:

• https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics/the-jolt-david-ralston-nixes-atl-airport-takeover-pioneering-payments-for-rural-georgia/TfVgCqMtNBZ1djHTqBP3xI/
• https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics-blog/georgia-2018-jeffares-gets-down-with-dirty-jobs-tour/XYQmRjeqD6Tzd4bqWce6bP/
• https://politics.myajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/house-speaker-david-ralston-seeks-internet-expansion-rural-georgia/1nIQu4qJOsrFBtyOv3sFlJ/
• https://politics.myajc.com/news/state--regional-education/atlanta-area-schools-may-next-for-turnaround/LwBp6VVT4QYG15KZMAqGXM/
• https://politics.myajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/legislation-protect-georgia-green-space-roars-back-life/4XiNLFXE3vZhyyNp8MCY8N/