An Act Relative to the Public Health Impact of Commercialism in Schools

Text of the Bill: http://commercialfreechildhood.org/hb489/hb489.pdf

Status: Received favorable recommendation from the Joint Committee on Public Health.  Referred to Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. 

About: Representative Peter Koutoujian’s bill would prohibit companies from advertising their products on public school grounds. It would also prohibit companies from providing any type of promotional items or gifts – other than their primary products – which bear the mark or brand name of the manufacturer’s products. It is, along with legislation introduced in Vermont in 2008, the strongest school commercialism legislation in the country and would provide children with a need safe-haven from advertising and marketing that undermines their wellbeing.

Click here to read more about CCFC's efforts to pass HB 489

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South Carolina: S. 1071

A Bill to Prohibit Advertising on School Buses

Text of the Bill:  http://www.scstatehouse.net/sess117_2007-2008/bills/1071.htm

Status: In Senate Education Committee

About: State Senator Greg Ryberg filed legislation to prohibit advertising on South Carolina school buses. The legislation comes on the heels of the South Carolina Department of Education's announced plan to accept ads on the interior of South Carolina buses - the first statewide contract for school bus advertising in the country.

Senator Ryberg's bill is historic. It would establish school buses as commercial-free zones at a time when advertising permeates nearly every aspect of children's lives. It would stop South Carolina's newly established bus advertising program. And it would prevent BusRadio - a program designed to force school children to listen to radio broadcasts with targeted advertising on their way to and from school - from taking root in South Carolina.

What you can do:

1. Email your Senator, your Representative and the Chairs of the Education Committees by visiting http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/t/5401/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22900

2. Spread the word!  Tell five friends or relatives and post it on blogs and message boards.

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Vermont: H. 813

Commercialism in Public Schools

Text of the Bill: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2008/bills/intro/H-813.HTM

Status: In House Education Committee

About:  On February 5, 2008, Representative Christopher Pearson introduced legislation that would end all advertising on schools grounds during school hours. The bill would prohibit manufacturers and distributors from advertising consumer products on public school property or providing public schools with promotional gifts that bear the mark or brand name of the manufacturer’s product. Along with legislation introduced in 2007 in Massachusetts, it is the strongest school commercialism legislation in the country and would provide children with a need safe-haven from advertising and marketing that undermines their wellbeing.

What you can do:

1. Contact the Education Committee and your Representative.  We need your help to ensure that this legislation gets a timely hearing so that CCFC staff and other experts and concerned citizens can testify about its importance. Please click here to send an email.

2. Help us track advertising in Vermont schools by sending any examples from your children's schools. If there are ads on the scoreboard, in the cafeteria or on the bus, if Ronald McDonald visits your child's school...let us know by emailing ccfc@jbcc.harvard.edu.

3. Volunteer! Many of our Vermont members have been looking for ways to get more involved in CCFC. Now's the perfect time.  If you're interested in lobbying, testifying at a hearing, talking to media, getting the word out - let us know! CCFC member Andrew Perchlik will be coordinating volunteer efforts.