Yale Rudd Center Launches Centralized Database for State and Federal Food Policy and Obesity Legislation

A new legislative database launched today by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University gives policy makers, journalists, advocates, researchers and concerned citizens a single online destination for current information on government legislation pertaining to food policy and obesity issues, including access to healthy food, school initiatives, menu labeling, sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, and more.

The Legislative Updates database, which tracks federal and state bills filed during the current Congressional and state legislative sessions, provides detailed bill language and status updates. Key features of the database include:

• Detailed search functionality, which sorts and displays bills by federal or state filing status, and by topic
• A list of bills that have been acted upon in the last day and week
• A list of bills that have been enacted into law
• Contact information for bill sponsors

“Given the recent increase in obesity and food-related public policy initiatives, this new tool is an invaluable resource to anyone interested in following current legislative activities or developing legislation of their own,” said Roberta Friedman, ScM, director of public policy at the Rudd Center. “It has never been easier to find and track the progress of a wide variety of proposals from across the country and in Congress, or to compare and analyze varying legislative approaches to the same issues.”

Bills are monitored closely and updates are posted regularly. The Legislative Updates database may be accessed at www.yaleruddcenter.org/legislation/