« Wisconsin’s 2019 NAEP Scores Hold Steady | Home | SAA Members Testify on Tobacco 21 »
Priority Legislative Alert on Tobacco 21
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 30, 2019
The SAA is issuing a Priority Legislative Alert on Assembly Bill 422, the so-called Tobacco 21 legislation.
As we reported last week, AB 422 has been scheduled for a public hearing before the Assembly Committee on Substance Abuse and Prevention at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 6th in the North Hearing Room (2nd Floor North), State Capitol. The SAA strongly supports the bill.
See the Public Hearing Notice here.
We urge SAA members to take action now! For those interested in testifying at the public hearing, please contact the SAA so we can help coordinate and facilitate your testimony. We also encourage all SAA members to contact your legislators and ask them to support AB 422.
In your communication, please consider using the talking points below as well as any of your own points about the importance of the bill based on your experiences and expertise.
Talking Points:
- Wisconsin schools are on the front lines in dealing with fallout from rising teen nicotine addiction.
- As e-cigarettes and vaping products have become more widely available, we have seen an explosion in the numbers of young people using these products.
- In Wisconsin, one in five high schoolers use e-cigarettes. Additionally, one in nine middle schoolers have tried e-cigarettes. These are self-reported numbers. Actual usage may be higher.
- As health officials across the country investigate hundreds of cases of a potentially deadly illness related to e-cigarettes, we believe there is greater urgency to take action now to protect our kids.
- AB 422 would raise the minimum sales age for all tobacco and nicotine products to 21, up from the current 18. Eighteen-year-olds are suppliers to their younger peers. Raising the minimum sales age will reduce the number of high schoolers who can legally purchase these products for others in their social circles.
- Just like raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 helped remove alcohol from high school campuses, we hope this bill will produce similar results when it comes to e-cigarettes and other dangerous products that harm the health of young students and disrupts learning environments in schools.
For your convenience in contacting your legislators, we have provided links to the Assembly Directory, the Senate Directory and Who Are My Legislators.
If you should have any questions, please email me or call me at (608) 242-1370. Thanks for listening and, as always, thank you for everything you do on behalf of Wisconsin school children.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Comments are closed.