One Month until Georgia's Legislative Session Begins

The 2018 Georgia Legislative Session is officially one month away! Find out about the policies we plan to support during session, as well as campaigns we're pursing at the local level.

Action Needed

• Invite friends, family and volunteers to follow @YouretheCureGA on Twitter and like American Heart Association-Georgia on Facebook. This is where you can find the most up-to-date information about the AHA's advocacy efforts in our state. Feel free to share or retweet any posted information on your work or personal social media accounts. 
• Ask board members and other key volunteers if they'd like to visit the State Capitol with Michael Cortes, Government Relations Director, from January 8 - approximately March 2, 2018 to see one way the AHA uses donations. Notify [email protected] of interested volunteers and share their contact information with him as well.
• Ask friends, family and volunteers to join You're the Cure at www.yourethecure.org/join.
• As you read this update, notify [email protected] of volunteers who may be interested in engaging in any of our state and local campaigns.

Campaign Updates 

State Campaigns

Telephone CPR (T-CPR): During the upcoming session, the AHA will advocate for the passage of legislation requiring all 911 telecommunicators that provide dispatch for emergency conditions to be trained in the delivery of high-quality telephone CPR.

Quality Physical Education: The AHA will advocate for the passage of physical education assessment legislation during the 2018 session. The goal of this policy is to increase accountability reporting of schools to provide quality physical education based on specific assessment measures.

Early Care and Education (ECE): We intended to pursue a third piece of legislation during session that would incorporate nutrition, active play, and screen time standards into the state child care licensing structure for licensed child care centers and licensed home-based child care providers. However, our plans have changed with how to accomplish this goal. Stay tuned!

Contact [email protected] with questions. 

Local Campaigns

Smoke-free Atlanta: The Smoke-free Atlanta coalition is currently in the public outreach and education stage of the campaign. The coalition has held several events aimed at spreading its message and engaging with the local community and will continue to do such in the coming months. We are also still monitoring the funding request that would allow current smoking facilities in the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to be replaced with high end cigar lounges. 

Smoke-free Marietta: The American Heart Association is an official member of the Breath Easy Cobb County coalition. This coalition's goal is to advance smoke-free policies in the City of Marietta with an ordinance potentially being introduced in the spring of 2018. 

Contact [email protected] with questions.

Articles of Interest

• It May Be Dangerous To Inhale At The Busiest Airports (Forbes.com)
• Lt. Gov. Cagle Releases Educational Legislation Priorities (GeorgiaPol.com)
• Bottoms Declares Victory; Norwood Says It Isn’t Over; Other Election Results (GeorgiaPol.com)
• Census: Atlanta region among the worst for traffic as poverty grows (MyAJC.com)
• Georgia EPD considering changes to water quality regulation (MyAJC.com)
• The Jolt: Butch Miller gathers up votes for No. 2 job in state Senate (MyAJC.com)
• Gwinnett chair Nash, legislators consider county’s transit future (MyAJC.com)

Key Leadership Roles to Know

• Speaker of the House Rep. David Ralston 
• Speaker Pro Tempore: Rep. Jan Jones 
• House Majority Leader: Rep. Jon Burns 
• House Minority Leader: Rep. Stacy Abrams 
• Chair of House Health Committee: Rep. Sharon Cooper 
• Senate President (Lt. Governor): Casey Cagle 
• Senate President Pro Tempore: Sen. David Shafer
• Senate Majority Leader: Sen. Bill Cowsert
• Senate Minority Leader: Sen. Steve Henson
• Chair of Senate Health Committee: Sen. Renee Unterman