May 2009 Rick Metz, lobbyist
The 120 day long Colorado General Session adjourned on Wednesday May 6, 2009. Some bills are waiting to be signed by the speaker of the House and by the president of the Senate before being sent to our Governor. The Governor has 10 days after the end of the session to sign bills into law, veto bills or let bills become law without his signature. It was a very challenging year due to the limitations of the budget. Our “wellness promotion network” was diverse, dedicated and strong during the legislative session. CoAHPERD, American Heart Association, Colorado Children’s Campaign, Colorado Health Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Metro Denver Health and Wellness Commission, School Policy Indicators group and our other friends in nutrition, physical activity and children’s health worked together to improve the status of children’s health and wellness in Colorado. It was frustrating to hear verbal support for our issues and then witness a lack of legislative support for SB 46 (setting minimum requirements for school snacks) and SB 131 (setting minimum requirements for physical activity in schools). The network is already planning strategies for our next General session. We are hopeful that our advocates at the capitol will join us as we attempt to improve the status of physical education, move toward having certification requirements, meaningful assessments and nutritional standards in our schools. I will continue to update you about our summer progress with writing legislative proposals.
Here is the latest update on bills of interest to our cause:
SB 123 (creates an after school program to assist middle school students to make healthy choices, namely physical activity and nutrition) CoAHPERD supported Representative Todd and Senator Williams’ bill by offering a $5000 grant. This bill will be sent to the Governor after being signed by the House speaker and the Senate president
SB 33 (offering free lunch to Early Childhood students) signed by our Governor
SB 10 (offering immunity for people using AEDs in emergencies) signed by our Governor
SB 26 (certification for athletic trainers) waiting for House speaker and Senate president signatures before being sent to our Governor
SB 148 (setting safety requirements for passing of bicycles on Colorado roads) sent to our Governor
HB 1065 (educator identification pilot program to help determine the needs of teachers in Colorado) waiting for House speaker and Senate president signatures before being sent to our Governor
Thank you for your interest, input and support during this General session. I look forward to representing CoAHPERD during the summer, next fall and at the January 2010 Colorado General legislative session
NASPE “LOBBY DAY” report May 12, 2009
NASPE hosted the first ever “lobby day” last week (May 5-8) in Washington D.C.. Your three current executive board presidents (Anna Mead, Karen Marley, Clay Ellis), Nicole Turner-Ravana (a District Wellness Coordinator from Ft. Collins) and I represented Colorado at the event. NASPE staff members trained and transported us to the capitol for lobbying sessions with Colorado’s Representatives and Senators. A more detailed report will be available in the next CoAHPERD Journal but until then, here are the high points. First of all, we were very proud that Colorado had the most representatives for the event which hosted about 50 colleagues from across the nation. NASPE was very organized and handed each participant a folder with NASPE’s public policy agenda, a capitol map, contact people for our lobbying meetings and a hand-out (termed “leave behind” material) stating NASPE’s bills of interest. Our job was to plan a presentation about the bills, ask for support and follow up in a week or so to answer questions and again ask for support of NASPE’s legislation.
Each group practiced the presentation including an introduction, bill information sharing, “ask” for support and “close” which included thanking them for their time and again asking for support while pledging to contact them later to answer any questions. Colorado’s delegation performed well. Everyone seemed calm, professional, comfortable and confident. I was very honored to be with such a high quality group of leaders. Each member of the group spoke well and the response from each Representative and Senator's staff person was positive. As you are aware, our national leaders are very busy with the budget, safety issues and home initiated projects. We were happy to meet with staff members who were attentive, took notes and asked questions. NASPE’s three bills of interest are the including physical education language in the FIT KIDS ACT, increasing funding for the PEP program and including physical education language in the School Wellness Policy legislation. Our group outlined major points of each bill and make reasonable arguments for the support of each bill as well. The Journal article will show you the fact sheet used during our lobbying meetings. A strong visual statement was available to our Representatives and Senators in the form of an “obesity trend” chart and a list of questions about the status of quality physical education in Colorado. If you have any questions or if you need more information about NASPE’s public policy agenda, please contact me, anytime (rickmetz@q.com) (303-642-2802). I hope NASPE will continue the lobby day event. It gave us an opportunity to voice our desire for quality physical education legislation to people who can make a difference in the schools across America.