Coalition Presses Health Initiatives

State House News Service Brief
September 13, 2011

A high-powered coalition of public health advocates and state officials – including the top public health appointee in the Patrick administration – called on lawmakers Tuesday to pass a series of initiatives they say would reward businesses that offer healthy foods, require at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day for students, and eliminate a tax exemption on candy and soda. The coalition, co-chaired by Valerie Fleishman, executive director of the New England Health Care Institute, Boston Foundation president Paul Grogan and former state economic development secretary Ranch Kimball, said lawmakers should differentiate between “physical education” and “physical activity” for students, which they say would be less costly. Other backers of the proposals included Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca and former economic development secretary Dan O’Connell. The coalition also includes John Auerbach, state commissioner of public health, Eileen McAnneny of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, and James Roosevelt, CEO of Tufts Health Plan. Gov. Deval Patrick has pushed for a tax on candy and soda in previous years, arguing that it would raise revenue for public health programs and discourage the purchase of unhealthy foods. But the proposal has been a non-starter in the Legislature. The coalition, called Healthy People/Health Economy, has lined up behind a bill (H 1845) filed by Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez (D-Jamaica Plain), co-chair of the Public Health Committee, that would include tax credits for the health food industry, require daily physical activity for students, include body mass index in students’ physical exams, and require health impact reports for capital building projects. The coalition also backs a bill (H 1994) filed by Rep. Kay Khan (D-Newton) to eliminate the candy and soda tax exemption, a change that backers say would raise $52 million....

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