If you are like I am, it is hard to think about much besides the disastrous House budget. And, if you are like I am, you feel frustrated, worried and discouraged. Last week while caring for my 3-year-old granddaughter I said I felt frustrated about something. She began to sing a little ditty from (I think) Daniel Tiger..."When you feel frustrated, take a deep breath. Count 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. Blow it away." So there you have it!
The budget is now in the Senate and they are in the process of educating themselves on the issues. This week various departments will present to the Finance Committee but the Senate's proposed budget will not come out for another week or so and the public hearings will not take place until May. We have time to take deep breaths, count to four and blow it away.
In the meantime, with superb help from Marie Mulroy, I have been reviewing our progress thus far. We have had some good public health wins. HB 200 originally defined "farm stand" in such a way that made health officers overseeing farm markets and food safety experts cringe. The House amended the bill in ways that public health could support it. The amended version passed the House. The Senate committee gave it an "ought to pass" and the vote will be taken this week. Another victory is HB 411, which prohibits paying subminimum wages to people with disabilities which passed both chambers. A foot in the door on raising the minimum wage to a living wage for all? A bill we haven't been following but that looks like a public health win is SB 80, which establishes a committee to study and make recommendations for legislation regarding rail trails. Among other things, the committee will examine the department of transportation's policies that facilitate the process of converting rails to trails with the goal of making the process easier and less expensive for volunteer groups who engage in this process. Other bills have been wins or public health in one chamber but have not yet reached a vote in the other. Stay tuned.
One idea that has interested me is the important public health legislation that did not cross over. I hope we will have the capacity to review these bills over the summer and to consider if we want to put significant energy into resurrecting and pushing one of them in 2016. Join the Public Policy Committee to help with this on-going work.