Iowa Environmental Health Association

ADVOCACY

Get Involved

There has never been a better or more critical time for environmental health professionals to get involved in advocacy efforts. Encourage your legislators and other decision makers to protect Iowa's environmental health.

It's your right as a citizen to make your concerns known to elected officials. You can do this by writing a letter, making a phone call, or meeting one-on-one with a public official. The most important element in influencing public policy is sincerity and belief in what you want to happen. If your members of state legislature and Congress don't hear from you, they won't know you care about an issue.

Most of your representatives do not have the academic or professional experience and background in environmental health to make decisions on complex issues. They want to be educated, and they want to know your opinion.

Don't assume someone else will speak up. Get involved today! Check out our Iowa and Federal Resources to help you get started.

Want to get involved in IEHA Legislative issues? Want to have your voice heard? Contact committee chairs: Eric Bradley or Brian Hanft to learn more.

ISAC Legislative Tracking Tool

During the legislative session it is important for county officials to stay up-to-date on legislation that has the potential to affect them. One place to go for this information is the ISAC Legislative Tracking Tool. Click here to access the tool. You can search for all bills by title, affiliate, or ISAC position. The tracking tool is linked to the General Assembly’s website so if you click on the bill number it will pull up the current bill for you to review. If there are any amendments filed for the bill those will be shown as well.

IEHA's Legislative Priorities

IEHA 2018 Legislative Position Statements

IEHA Legislative Committee Updates

The Legislative Committee has been in discussions with IPHA and ICPHA to revise the Food Fee Objective that our three associations use. The goal is to have the legislative objective approved by the Board before the ISAC Legislative Policy meeting in August. We are also working with IPHA, ICPHA, ISAC, the Urban Coalition (Scott County, Johnson County, Linn County and Blackhawk County) , and the Neighborhoods Inspection Division with the City of Des Moines to try and schedule a meeting with Steve Mandernach (DIA) and Director Rod Roberts (DIA) to work on a strategy for getting a food fee increase in 2015.

We have contacted a few Legislators in the Senate and House Leadership hierarchy to discuss why inadequate food license fees have forced more local jurisdictions to return the food contract back to DIA and forced DIA to lower its inspection frequency to what many of us see as unsafe levels. We have also reached out to Senator Liz Mathis (chair, Administration and Regulation Appropriations subcommittee) to arrange a meeting to discuss line items for inclusion in a potential food fee bill.

Days On The Hill

Event Area:

Capitol Building

Event Location:

1st Floor Rotunda - East & North

Event Date:

Wednesday, January 31, 2018 - 11:30 to 13:00

Organization/Sponsor/Department:

Iowa Public Health Association

Event to convene public and environmental health professionals with legislators to discuss policy issues; Joint event organized by the Iowa Public Health Association (IPHA), the Iowa Counties Public Health Association (ICPHA), the Iowa Environmental Health Association (IEHA), the State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) and the University of Iowa. Website with Event Detail: www.iowapha.org

Environmental Health: It is Everywhere, Everyday! ~ Non-Profit Organization (501c) Information ~

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