It’s for the Kids – the 2025 Oregon legislative agenda

At the American Heart Association, the return to school and the start of fall means its time for campaign planning!  In reality, campaign planning is a year-round process, but fall is when we formalize that work by putting pen to paper! 

For the 2025 session our three big proactive campaigns are:

• Tobacco Flavor Restriction Statewide: After passing similar policy in Washington and Multnomah Counties (that are still working their way through the court system before being implemented even 3 years later) we are bringing back our work to end the sale of kid enticing flavors of tobacco products! We have an incredible sponsor for this work, Rep. Lisa Reynolds, and have already been working with the legislative council on language to make sure we also include all the new kinds of flavored tobacco products on the market.  The American Heart Association is a founding member of the Flavors Hook Oregon Kids Coalition which has grown to over 75 organizations working on this policy.
• Universal School Meals: Our work with the School Meals for All Coalition to increase funding for school meals in 2023 to ensure all eligible schools were taking advantage of new federal rules and funding opportunities has improved access to 93% of schools! But our work will not be complete until we are at 100%. So, this year, with the help of long time Champion Rep. Courtney Neron, we are bringing a universal school meals bill to the legislature that will also focus on codifying nutrition standards and grants for schools that need infrastructure improvements to smooth the transition of more kids getting lunch than before.
• Cardiac Emergency Response Plans (CERPs): With the help of Rep. Dacia Grayber, and the creation of the Oregon Smart Hearts Coalition, the safety of students, school staff and visitors can be enhanced with a coordinated, practiced response plan where school CERP teams are trained and empowered to administer lifesaving care until Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrive.

In addition to these three large proactive campaigns, we will continue our work to protect the Indoor Clean Air Act, keeping a close eye on budgets this year to make sure important investments in healthy food access, like Double Up Food Bucks, are maintained and continued to work with regulatory agencies on implementation of EMS modernization. The Oregon State Capital is still undergoing a massive renovation for seismic improvements, ADA accessibility and other needed changes to the building. As such, we are still working out a plan for what our Lobby Day will look like and when it will take place, by stay tuned for more information as we have it.