Moving Day in the House

5/12/2011

Today is moving day in the Texas House of Representatives meaning move your bill or go home. All House bills that don’t pass by midnight tonight will be dead in their current form. So what does that mean for issues concerning heart disease and stroke? A couple things…

1. Smoke-Free Texas: HB 670 which is the comprehensive smoke-free workplaces law is on the calendar today, about 100 bills down the list. Depending on how fast lawmakers work and pass bills ahead of it there is an outside chance of getting to HB 670 tonight. But if they run out of time, all is not lost. Smoke-Free bill author Myra Crownover has indicated she will try to amend another bill to include smoke-free bars and restaurants in Texas.

Either way lawmakers will have a chance to vote on smoke-free workaplces and we need them to vote YES. Click here to take action now.

2. PE and Health in Schools: Efforts to reduce PE and Health Standards were made in HB 400. This bill is ahead of the smoke-free legislation and will likely be heard before the midnight deadline tonight. Our message is to oppose amendments to HB 400 that will weaken PE and Health in schools. Click here to take action now.

3. Trans Fats in Schools: The bill that will remove trans-fats from school cafeterias has been passed by the Texas Senate and is now awaiting approval from a House committee. Because it has already been passed by the Senate, it doesn’t face the same midnight deadline. But the clock is still ticking and we need to move it quickly from the committee to the House floor. Click here to take action now.