Soda Pop Lobby Beats Citizen Groups on House Junkfood Bill:
Soda Jerks Stop Vote on HB1866

CCCS PRESS RELEASE 10mar03

Over 65 local and state organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians were no match for the powerful soft drink lobby in influencing legislators in Olympia this session. Substitute House bill, HB1866 would have established a model policy on sales of junkfood and sodas in schools and passed the House Health Care committee only to be blocked from even coming to a vote in House Appropriations on Saturday. The compromise bill, sponsored by Reps. Eileen Cody-D 34th and Cheryl Pflug, R-5th had a fiscal note of less than $10,000 and would have led to enormous savings in state health care costs.

The fight against junkfood sales and marketing in public schools was led by the Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools and the Children's Alliance, statewide advocacy organizations. The final draft of the House bill had the support of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Washington State Dietetics Association, the Washington Federation of Teachers, Washington State PTA and many others. OSPI has indicated they will go ahead and develop a model policy on junkfood in schools, with or without a mandate to do so.

"Citizens will be outraged that soda lobbyists have prevented this bill from even coming to a vote," aid Brita Butler-Wall, Executive Director of the non-profit Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools. "The fate of these junkfood bills in Washington state clearly shows that large corporations already have far more say in what goes on in our schools than parents, teachers and citizens combined, even when children's lives are at stake."

"There are obviously many contributing factors to the childhood obesity epidemic but schools are in a unique position to model and reinforce healthy eating habits that will last children a lifetime," says Shelley Curtis, Food Policy Manager for the Children¹s Alliance. "Childhood obesity can be prevented, and an important step is improving the school nutrition environment."

Currently, federal regulations govern nutrition standards in school lunch and breakfast programs, but give states and school food authorities the authority to regulate 'competitive' foods sold in schools such as ASB vending machines, fundraisers, and student stores. In recent years, sales of competitive foods have led to dramatically decreased participation by children in the federally funded school meal programs.

In the policy committee, votes in favor of HB1866 came from Reps. Cody, Morrell, Clibborn, Darneille, Edwards, Moeller and Schual-Berke. Health Care members who opposed the earlier draft included Reps. Pflug, Bailey, Benson, Campbell, and Skinner, although Pflug co-sponsored the final version of the bill.

According to Public Disclosure Commission information, the Washington State Soft Drink Association spent thousands of dollars contributing to the political campaigns of many Washington legislators.

A similar Senate bill SB5436 was introduced by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and met a similar fate a week earlier, when it was killed in the Education committee following an hour-long public hearing.

• The Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools can be reached at www.scn.org/cccs.

Soft Drink Industry Kills Senate Junkfood Bill in Washington State CCCS PRESS RELEASE 6mar03

House Bill in Appropriations Committee

Despite rapidly-mounting public concern about poor child nutrition, aggressive lobbying by soft drink and vending machine lobbyists persuaded the Senate Education Committee to stop SB5436 from reaching the Senate floor following a hearing Friday. The bill would merely have required OSPI to research and draft a model policy that addresses junkfood sales and marketing in schools, to guide school boards in setting local policy. The compromise bill was the 17th draft crafted by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle).

The Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools and the Children's Alliance, statewide advocacy organizations, are spearheading the effort to get junkfood out of public schools. Their coalition includes over 65 organizations in Washington opposed to junkfood sales and/or marketing in schools. The final draft of the Senate bill had the support of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington State Dental Service Foundation, the Washington State PTA and many others.

"We are seeing overwhelming support from the education, health, labor, and food and agriculture sector for getting junkfood out of our schools, and it's time for the state to step in". said Brita Butler-Wall, Executive Director of the non-profit Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools. "In their desperate drive for dollars, local school boards and school administrators have created a toxic nutrition environment for children."

Gary Goldbaum MD, MPH, a physician representing Public Health -- Seattle & King County, provided testimony that, "Public schools must provide an environment where kids can learn to eat healthy foods. School boards must develop policies to improve the school environment. The key is to offer competitive foods that are healthy, affordable, and reflect what is being taught through nutrition education curricula".

The Washington State School Directors' Association and the Washington Association of School Principals voiced concerns about the specificity of the bill but supported the idea of a model policy. Olympia School Board member Russ Lehman, who supports the bill, says " We fail our prime responsibility to our school children when we not only provide, but in fact attempt to profit from, the exact foods that we teach them are unhealthy."

The Washington Association of School Administrators joined industry reps in opposing the bill. Currently, many Washington schools fund a portion of their extracurricular activities through revenues from selling sodas and other soft drinks to students. Schools in other states such as California,

Montana and Pennsylvania have, however, reported equal or increased revenues after recently switching to healthful snacks and beverages.

According to Public Disclosure Commission information, the Washington State Soft Drink Association spent thousands of dollars contributing to the political campaigns of many Washington legislators.

Rep. Eileen Cody's House bill HB1866 which is similar to SB5436 was passed by the House Health Care Committee this week and has a hearing in House Appropriations on March 6.

• Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools 3724 Burke Ave. N. Seattle WA 98115 www.scn.org/cccs cccs@scn.org  206.523.4922 CONTACT: Brita Butler-Wall 206. 523.4922 Shelley Curtis 206-324-0340, x17