Governor Beebe signs Act 1204, and the 2009 Heart Ball

What an exciting month February has been in the state of Arkansas. Looking over my blog entries I cannot believe it has been 12 months since I wrote a glowing report about the activities in which I took part in February of 2008. So much has happened in my personal life and in my volunteer work! This February has seen the passage of Act 1204, and at left you see a picture of our states Governor signing the act into law. Act 1204 increases the excise tax on tobacco by 56 cents, funneling nearly 90 million dollars into the Arkansas budget. Those funds will be used to fund life saving programs across the state and will enable us to improve and increase the availability of health care for the citizens of Arkansas. I commend our Governor for his hard work and dedication to this cause, I thank speaker Robbie Wills of Conway for his impassioned support of this Act, and Senator Steele for this unwavering belief that this Act was necessary for the health and well being of the children of our state! We on the Advocacy Committee in Arkansas feel that the 2009 legislative session has been an incredible success already.
We also celebrated the 2009 Heart Ball this week. Kevin and I are honored to serve on the auction board, and want to commend our friends Scott and Shayla Copas on a job well-done as the 2009 Heart Ball chairs. Scott serves on the board for the South Central affiliate, and he and his lovely wife are valued and honored volunteers with the AHA. Under their leadership the 2009 Heart Ball raised more than 1 million dollars for research, education and awareness.