CHEAC State Legislative Member Education Day Expands

A number of CHEAC members recently descended upon the State Capitol to educate members of the Legislature and their staff on the role and value of local health departments in Sacramento. This year’s event was an expansion of CHEAC’s first Legislative Member Education Day held in 2019 with 29 members representing 19 local health departments, including a nice balance of large, medium, and small, who made 61 visits in the Capitol building last Wednesday.

CHEAC members focused their discussions with Legislators and their staff on several key issues to support local health department activities including supporting CHEAC’s budget request to provide $15 million in funding to address sexually transmitted disease reinfections, supporting Senator Hill’s SB 793 to ban flavored tobacco in California, requesting legislators advocate for dedicating a portion of the Governor’s proposed nicotine tax revenues to bolster the public health workforce and infrastructure, and also working to ensure public health departments have a role in the planning design and implementation of Medi-Cal Healthier California for All (formerly known as CalAIM).

CHEAC extends our appreciation to those CHEAC Members that participated and look forward to continuing to promote local health departments and their critical role in their jurisdictions to the Legislature.