NYS Legislative Session Off and Running

Jan 31, 2022

State legislators have returned to Albany... and there has been of flurry of activity in the first month back. Here's what's happening now:

Governor's Budget - 16.2% of adults across the state still smoke. And 8.5 million adult New Yorkers are considered overweight or obese. At a time when NYS needs to make obesity prevention and tobacco control a priority, we are concerned that the Executive Budget calls for consolidation of funding for some public health programs - making it difficult to determine the real funding amounts. It's time to restore transparency - and make tobacco control and obesity prevention a top priority.

CPR in School legislation - Why is it so important to keep pushing for CPR in Schools? Nearly 400,000 people suffer an out of hospital sudden cardiac arrest each year - and only about 10% survive.

We're happy to report a new bill has been introduced by Senator Mark Grisanti. While this means we must go back and ask all Senators to sponsor the new bill, we are confident that with strong grassroots supports that we will have a long list of sponsors soon. AHA continues to highlight schools with successful CPR programs.

AEDs in Golf courses - Legislation to ensure golf courses are equipped with AEDs is moving quickly thru the Assembly. The legislation has passed two committees and is currently waiting for a full vote from the Assembly.

Food Marketing to kids - Are food companies targeting unhealthy, high-calorie items to kids? Are your kids tempted by the shiny toy? How about letting kids keep the toy and serving a healthier meal at the same time? Legislation calling for nutrition standards for meals marketed to kids (with a toy or similar incentive) has passed the Assembly Health Committee and is now before the codes committee.

Learn, Enjoy and Save Life. HealthForce Training Center offer services such as Basic Life Support (BLS), Advance Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS), CPR AED, Pediatric First Aid CPR AED and First Aid CPR AED. Read more of our blogs.