Illinois Volunteers Advocate for Safe Routes to School!

You’re the Cure advocates Heidi Files of Batavia, Rose Hudson of Champaign, Toya Johnson of Oswego, and Maryann Romanelli of Hinsdale, are in Washington D.C. today meeting with Illinois legislators to help save Safe Routes to School! While they are meeting face-to-face with legislations, we are also running an ad in Politico to urge our nation’s legislators to “give America’s kids the right of way to healthy life” by preserving the program in the federal transportation bill. But Heidi, Rose, Toya and Maryann need your help to make sure EVERY Member of Congress from Illinois gets the message.

Help your fellow advocates in four simple steps:

1. Print a copy of the AHA's Safe Routes to School ad.
   
   
2. Personalize it with your contact information.



3. FAX it to your Members of Congress. You can find their contact information here.
   
   
4. Report back! Let us know you sent your faxes!

The fate of Safe Routes to School, which helps communities build safe sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike paths that allow kids to be more physically active, is still up in the air. But thanks to your action and the help Heidi, Rose, Toya and Maryann, we are making progress. Just last week, the Senate included a provision in its transportation bill that would ensure that local governments and school systems are able to access critical funds to make communities safer for bicycling and walking. But our work is far from over until a final bill is passed and signed.

Thank you for doing your part to give America’s kids the right of way to a healthy life!

PS- Don’t have a fax machine? No problem! You can call the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121) to be connected to your legislators’ offices. Don’t forget to tell them who you are, where you are from, and that you are counting on Congress to preserve funding for Safe Routes to School in the transportation bill.

LICENSE TO KILL: NOT FOR ILLINOIS

February 28, 2012

American Heart Association statement on the defeat of House Bill 1310

The American Heart Association is pleased that House Bill 1310, which would have allowed towns in Illinois to sell smoking licenses to local businesses, was defeated today in the Illinois House of Representatives.

A smoking license is a license to kill, threatening Illinois workers who would be forced to breathe smoke-filled air within their workplaces. It would have been wrong for our state to sanction behavior that would harm people’s health while allowing municipalities to cash in by selling these licenses. We applaud those legislators who voted down the bill and, thus, kept those lethal licenses out of our state.

“Such legislation would endanger employees and other customers who prefer not to be exposed to second-hand smoke,” said Dr. Timothy A. Sanborn, head of the cardiology division at NorthShore University HealthSystem and a member of the American Heart Association’s Illinois Advocacy Committee. “Even low levels of smoke exposure have been shown to lead to heart attacks and strokes.”

At a time when our neighbors in Indiana are fighting for smoke-free legislation and facing exemptions for casinos and other establishments that would weaken their proposed law, it is good to see Illinois keeping our smoke-free bill strong and putting the health of its citizens above monetary gain.

A vast majority of Illinois residents do not want the smoke-free law weakened. Last year there were multiple attempts to weaken the Smoke Free Illinois Act through proposed legislation that would have given exemptions to casinos. That proposed legislation, like House Bill 1310, was ultimately defeated. A statewide poll of registered voters in April 2010 showed 84% support for Smoke Free Illinois, including casinos and private clubs.

Proposed casino exemptions and sales of smoking licenses are driven by financial interests. There is a better, much healthier way of increasing revenue without weakening our smoke-free law.

“If the goal is to raise state revenue, let’s raise the tobacco taxes instead,” said Sanborn. “Such efforts in other states have recently been shown to increase state revenue while actually decreasing the number of smokers. Let’s strive to continue to improve the health of all residents of the state of Illinois rather than grant ‘licenses to kill.’”

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Century Jr. High School HeartSavers!

Following on the heels of a great Hoops for Heart event, the students and faculty of Century Jr. High School in Orland Park put on a terrific CPR assembly on Friday, Feb. 24, with a big assist from American Heart Association volunteer and Orland Park School Board Member Lynne Donegan. The assembly, attended by 300 very enthusiastic middle-schoolers who had recently completed the American Heart Association’s Family and Friends CPR training course, featured a double-dutch jump rope demonstration, a student band, and speakers including representatives from local hospitals, the Orland Park Police, the American Heart Associaiton, and state Representative Dan Burke. A good time was had by all, and more importantly, the Century students and faculty showed just how easy and rewarding it can be to train the next generation of lifesavers!

Chicago Tribune Letter to the Editor by Kathy Grady of the Illinois Advocacy Committee

10:04 a.m. CST, February 21, 2012

State officials are proposing a $2 billion cut to Illinois' Medicaid program. We agree with Illinois Hospital Association president, Maryjane Wurth, that a cut of this magnitude will have a profound negative impact on health care services for the poor and disabled. The collateral damage to people in fragile health would be unimaginable. Left untreated, some of these conditions will only worsen and cost the system even more to treat.

It is time for officials on every side of this issue to put dogma and politics aside and to admit that Illinois cannot just cut its way out of this budget disaster. Raising additional revenue must be considered and one of the most viable and expedient options is raising the state's cigarette tax. While a lot of controversy surrounds many of the other taxes and fees, time and time again polling has shown that the public sees an increase in the cigarette tax as the most acceptable revenue option we have.

Raising the state cigarette tax is an easy way to address multiple problems. For instance, a $1 tax increase on cigarettes can raise an estimated $300-400 million in annual revenue for the state. And it would motivate nearly 60,000 current smokers in the state to quit the habit, preventing more than 50,000 smoking-related deaths here. This would lower the cost of health care services for tobacco-related health problems and help shore up Medicaid. An increase in the cigarette tax is the state's best "low-hanging fruit" option.

It can be done. It must be done, and done soon!

--Kathleen L. Grady, PhD, APN, FAAN, Chair, American Heart Association Illinois Advocacy Committee, Chicago

Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-122102grady_briefs,0,1140937.story

License to Kill, Not Just for Spies Anymore!

Once again the Smoke Free Illinois Act is being threatened! We need your immediate help in stopping House Bill 1310. It can be called for a vote on the House floor any time.

Take Action! Send a message urging your legislators to vote NO on HB 1310

HB 1310 would allow towns in Illinois to sell smoking licenses to local businesses. This proposal is outrageous! A smoking license is a “license to kill.” It is wrong for our state to sanction behavior that would harm people’s health. And it is wrong to allow municipalities to cash in by selling smoking licenses. (The state should allow them to raise tobacco taxes at the local level instead!).

Send a message urging your legislators to vote “NO” on HB 1310

First and foremost, HB 1310 threatens Illinois workers who would be forced to breathe smoke-filled air within their workplace. And it subjects the rest of us to secondhand smoke in places that are now smoke-free. By rolling back our smoke-free protections, the health of all Illinoisans is put at risk.

Please remind your legislators that there is no public support to weaken the Smoke Free Illinois Act. An April 2010 statewide poll of registered voters showed 84% support for Smoke Free Illinois, including casinos and private clubs. Few other policies enacted in recent memory enjoy such widespread support!

Take Action! by contacting your legislators.

With your help, we were able to defeat all attempts at weakening the Smoke Free Illinois Act last year and, working together and speaking with one voice, we can do it again!

Thank you for your immediate action on this very important issue!

Your IL Advocacy Team,
Alex Meixner, Anne Simaytis, Mark Peysakhovich and Maureen Christopher