Two very important bills HB 324 and SB 150 are advancing in the Legislature – but they need your help!
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If you remember from last month’s blog post, we had a chance to speak directly to our legislators at our annual Heart on the Hill Lobby Day about these and other tobacco-prevention bills. For a quick recap:
- Stroke and Cardiac Data Registry (SB 150) – While the name sounds wonky, this legislation is vitally important to better understand how stroke and cardiac events are treated across the state! Gathering this data will also give local health departments a better understanding of the burden of stroke and cardiovascular disease in our communities – and how best to prevent them at the local level!
- Tobacco Shops & Kids Bill (HB 324) – This bill is a simple “fix it” bill that ensures tobacco specialty businesses (“tobacco shops”) are not allowed to set up next to places where our kids learn, play, live, and pray. Data compiled from both Salt Lake and Utah County Health Departments in 2017 show that these shops are twice as likely to illegally sell tobacco products to underage youth! It’s time to take a stand and tell Big Tobacco that enough is enough!
While these bills have both advanced through committee, WE NEED YOUR HELP! Your legislators need to hear from YOU that these bills are important. Just this past week I counted no less that five tobacco lobbyists that were working on legislators trying to get them to vote against HB 324.
Last year we worked on similar legislation and saw the tobacco industry pull out all the stops to prevent the bill from receiving a final vote. Legislators respond best when they know an issue is important to their neighbors and communities they represent. Click here to tell your Representative you want them to help keep tobacco out of the hands of kids!
I am confident that with your help we can overcome the money and influence of the tobacco industry – but it will take each of you reaching out and letting your lawmaker know why they should support it! E-mail, call, text, Tweet, Facebook message – whatever it takes to reach your lawmaker we ask you to make your voice heard!
I look forward to providing an update to each of you in the coming weeks to let you know how these bills fared! With your help I know it will be a happy report!
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