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STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
221 Oak Street
Oakland, CA 94607
Tel: 510.444.7738
Fax: 510.663.1280

Strategic Alliance Newsletter
April 2011

Legislative Round-Up

From creating safe routes for children to walk and bike to funding critical afterschool programs through a soda tax, a number of bills have been proposed that promote physical activity and healthy living in communities across the state. Here’s a round-up of physical activity-related legislation that’s on the table this year:

AB 516 (V. Manual Peréz): Safe Routes to Schools
Sponsors: PolicyLink, TransForm, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
This bill would help ensure underserved communities are able to bring Safe Routes to Schools programs to their local schools. AB 516 would require the use of public participation processes, resulting in input from schools, parents, teachers, local agencies, the business community, key professionals, and others, in the development of funding proposals. Click here for more information.
AB 669 (Monning): Statewide Soda Tax
Sponsor: California Center for Public Health Advocacy
By levying a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages, AB 669 is estimated to raise $1.7 billion annually. The revenue generated would directly benefit communities by funding afterschool programs, youth sports, physical education programs, and other prevention efforts. Click here for more information.
AB 441 (Monning): Building Healthy Communities
Sponsor: California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
AB 441 would incorporate critical health and equity criteria in the state Regional Transportation Plan Guidelines. The bill would ensure that city, county, and regional governments consider the health implications of planning and development decisions. To learn more about the bill, click here.
AB 147 (Dickinson): Transit, Bike, and Pedestrian Funding
Sponsor: CA State Association of Counties
AB 147 seeks to provide cities and counties with the tools necessary to build required infrastructure to support infill development by expanding the allowable uses for transportation impact mitigation fees to include transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities. These changes are consistent with statewide directives for infill development, transit-oriented development, and complete streets. Click here for more information.

Stay tuned for more Strategic Alliance updates and action alerts on these and other bills that make physical activity a priority in California.

Eye on Industry

Marion Nestle Receives Public Health Heroes Award

On March 30th, food policy researcher and advocate, Dr. Marion Nestle, was honored as the 2011 National Hero at University of California, Berkeley’s annual Public Health Heroes Awards Ceremony. Through her tireless research and strong advocacy, Dr. Nestle has alerted public health advocates across the country to the unethical practices and powerful lobbying of the food and beverage industry. In many ways, her work has served as a call to action, shaping food and nutrition policy efforts at local, state, and national levels.

Strategic Alliance congratulates Dr. Nestle for this well-deserved recognition, and we thank her for the central role she's played in shaping and advancing the field of food policy.

View Food Politics, Marion’s must-read blog.

Physical Activity Spotlight

Physical Education Protected in Schools

A recent ruling by the state Supreme Court concluded that the Alameda County school district must provide elementary school students with 200 minutes of physical education every two weeks, in accordance to state law. Implementation of physical education requirements in the state education code has been challenging, and in many communities, non-existent, but this recent ruling is an opportunity for physical education and physical activity advocates to encourage school districts to meet requirements and partner in efforts to advance health-promoting behaviors for students and communities. Click here to read more.

Just Released

Why Place and Race Matter

Released this month, Why Place and Race Matter makes the undeniable case that race must be central to the decisions made by policymakers, advocates, and community leaders if we ever hope to close the racial health gap. Published by PolicyLink and The California Endowment, this report builds off long-standing research showing that life outcomes can be dramatically improved by changing the economic, social, and physical environments in which we live.

Read the full report here.

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California’s Soda Tax: Helping Cash-Strapped Communities Protect Children’s Health

Research released last week by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) provides further evidence that a proposed soda tax – AB 669 – could be instrumental in funding schools and critically needed childhood prevention efforts. California’s Soda Tax: Helping Cash-Strapped Communities Protect Children’s Health provides a county-by-county analysis of how the $1.7 billion in revenues generated by a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would be allocated to communities across the state.

To learn more, read the full report and Strategic Alliance’s Rapid Response Alert, complete with talking points in support of the tax.

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Healthier Communities through Redevelopment: Rebuilding Neighborhoods for Better Nutrition and Active Living

Healthier Communities Through Redevelopment, developed by Public Health Law & Policy, provides an overview of the framework, tools, and general practices of redevelopment, showing how redevelopment projects can help improve residents' health while strengthening the local economy. By partnering with local redevelopment agencies, this guide illustrates how public health advocates and other community leaders can help incorporate better nutrition and active living into plans for revitalizing the most blighted neighborhoods.

Click here to read the full report.

Upcoming Events

ENACT 2011 Nutrition and Activity Day
Wednesday, May 4, 9:00 am
Sacramento, CA
For more information, and to register, click here.

Hunger Action Day
May 17, 2011
Sacramento, CA
Click here to learn more and register.

American Public Health Association Midyear Meeting
Implementing Health Reform - A Public Health Approach
June 23-25, 2011
Chicago, IL
Registration is now open.

6th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference
June 28-30, 2011
San Diego, CA
Registration is now open.

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Thanks for reading! The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership. If you were forwarded this e-mail and want to receive your own copy in the future, please click here or e-mail phebe@preventioninstitute.org. And if you're already a member, please forward this message to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition. Thank you!

WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE?

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity away from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Park and Recreation Society (CPRS) , California Project LEAN, California WIC Association (CWA), Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Partnership for the Public's Health, Prevention Institute, PolicyLink, Samuels & Associates and Public Health Law & Policy.

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