On March 5th, 2025, the American Heart Association, in partnership with the For Our Kids Coalition and the Healthy School Meals for All Coalition, hosted Maryland Lobby Day 2025 at the Capitol Building in Annapolis. The event brought together over fifty passionate advocates, legislators, and coalition members to push for critical health policy changes. The…Read More…

We have good news. Legislation to help address childhood hunger in Utah passed and was signed by Governor Cox earlier this month! HB100, gets rid of the reduced-price category for school lunches, making school lunch free for qualifying students.  While the final language of HB100 is not everything we had hoped it is a good…Read More…

An important legislative deadline passed in early April, narrowing down the list of bills to those with a real shot at becoming law. Now, that the deadline has passed, attention shifts to the bills that made it through. If the House or Senate passes these bills, they will move to the opposite chamber for further…Read More…

As we near the halfway point in the 2025 legislative session we want to give an update on our priority issues. Free School Meals for All: Every child deserves a healthy start in life and that means having enough food to eat. Building on our past progress we had hoped to finish the job and secure…Read More…

The Kansas Legislature has wrapped up their work for this year. Thank you for using your voice to help move policies to make Kansas a healthier place. Here is an overview of all the important issues we worked on this year, and a sneak peek at what’s coming next. Chain of Survival Policies Telecommunicator CPR…Read More…

Smoking remains the most preventable cause of death and disability in the United States, with smokers dying an average of ten years before non-smokers. Preventing tobacco use is one of the best ways Montana can work to improve public health, and help Montanans live longer, healthier lives. Montana programs rely on tobacco use prevention funding…Read More…

The 2025  Idaho state legislative session wrapped up on Friday, April 4. We started the session with high hopes for our work in tobacco prevention but quickly realized there would be significant work needed to defend our past work on Medicaid and Medicaid Expansion. The session brought substantial attacks on Medicaid Expansion, and Medicaid in…Read More…

On April 8, 2025, the American Heart Association hosted Oregon Heart at the Capitol Day at the State Capitol in Salem. The event brought together fifty passionate advocates including volunteers from Upstream Academy, the Flavors Hook Oregon Kids Coalition, the Oregon Smart Hearts Coalition, and the School Meals for All Coalition. The day centered on…Read More…

Every student deserves to feel safe at school—but with 23,000 children lost to cardiac arrest each year, action is critical. On April 1, American Heart Association advocates gathered at Florida’s Capitol to support SB 430 and HB 1607, which would ensure every public school has an AED and a trained cardiac emergency response team. Survivors like Brittany Williams shared powerful stories to help lawmakers understand: this legislation will save lives.Read More…

As the weather is finally warming up, many of us across the state are turning our attention to planting season and dreaming of summer’s bounty. It won’t be long until gardens are full of strawberries, tomatoes, and zucchini. Two opportunities working their way through Montana’s legislature have the chance to make sure all Montana kids…Read More…