The week did not start off well! The House Appropriations Committee on Monday passed the Health & Human Services spending bill, which again zeroes out spending for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. We immediately sent out an Action Alert to our advocates, generating 110 responses to 60 legislators. That is great, but we could use more. It's not too late to have your voice heard! Click here to take action. The bill, HF 2435, will likely be debated next week by the full House.
Remember the bill that would prohibit the use of all tobacco products on school property? (It passed the Senate overwhelmingly last session 44-5 but is now stuck in the House because of opposition by the leaders.) The good news is it is part of the Senate education reform bill, thanks to Sen. Herman Quirmback, D-Ames. And Rep. Kevin Koester, R-Ankeny, plans to offer an amendment to the House education reform bill to put it in. We have speakers lined up for a public hearing on the education bill on Monday evening at the Capitol to talk about why this should be part of the bill. If you are interested in speaking, contact Justin - Justin.huck@cancer.org.
Our Iowa Health Advocates group geared up for presentations to senators yesterday, talking about what we want to see in a bill establishing an Iowa Health Insurance Exchange. Four representatives (including me) of our 35-member coalition testified to eight senators about the importance of the Exchange, since it could potentially help over 1 million Iowans enroll in health insurance with no pre-existing condition exemption starting in 2014. Insurance industry representatives also testified. A bill on the Exchange sponsored by Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, (SF 2042) is on the Senate debate calendar. Watch for action on that in the next several weeks. You can read my testimony here.
Finally, if you are free on Monday, March 12th, at noon consider coming up to the Capitol (Room 116) to hear Dr. George Weiner present a Lunch & Learn about cancer research happening at the University of Iowa. I guarantee you will find it fascinating.
As always, feel free to contact me directly with any questions or concerns - peggy.huppert@cancer.org.
