ACR 105 Amended, SPAC "Convenes" in Pasadena

ACR 105 was amended on March 10, to recognize not just May 2009, but to recognize the month of May every year as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month in CA. Several additional legislators were added as co-authors as well.

Following is a link to the current version of ACR 105.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0101-0150/acr_105_bill_20100309_amended_asm_v98.html

The Assembly Health Committee hearing is scheduled for March 23rd. Because all but one of the committee members have signed-on as co-authors, approval is set to occur via consent, meaning there is no need to testify. From the health committee, the bill will move to the Assembly Floor for a vote. The Junior Leagues State Public Affairs Committee (SPAC) delegates are hard-at-work outreaching legislators to request support and encourage more to sign-on as co-authors. Additionally, due to the efforts of the Los Angeles County Perinatal Taskforce, today the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support ACR 105.

The CA Women's Caucus hearing is still tentatively set for May 4 in Sacramento. We encourage supporters of ACR 105 to attend. Julie Elginer, SPAC Co-Chair continues to work with interested parties on securing people to testify. The first 30 minutes will be dedicated to the impact of Perinatal Depression on the mother (sponsored by Junior Leagues of California SPAC) and the second 30 minutes will explore the impact of Perinatal Depression on infants, children and families (sponsored by the March of Dimes).

On Monday the following articles appeared in the Los Angeles Times about resources for those suffering from perinatal depression and the affects depression can have on families.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-depression-resources-20100315,0,2388201.story

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-depression-20100315,0,4880790.story

The CA SPAC delegates will convene in Pasadena this weekend for our annual Winter conference. Among other things, our delegates will be deciding which bills introduced by the CA Assembly and Senate to take support positions on, as well as to identify 1-2 additional pieces of legislation that SPAC will sponsor this year and/or next year. All of the bills that SPAC supports or sponsors must fall into one of our four focus areas: Violence Prevention, Health, Education or Family Support.