Hello Governor (in my excellent English accent)

I was able to attend a meeting with one of the Governor's task forces at the State Capital. It is the Transaction Privilege Tax Simplification Task Force (TPT). Gov. Brewer signed an Executive Order establishing TPT. The task force consists of tax experts, municipal representatives, business owners, and others who have an influence on Arizona's sales tax code. The sales tax code is considered to be the nation's most complex and the TPT works to simplify taxpayer frustration. Following the Executive Order Gov. Brewer signed HB2815 into law, which is a tax-reform package aimed at increasing job creation and economic development. The TPT must report their findings to the Governor, Speaker of the House and Senate President no later than December 31, 2012.

The first meeting of the task force included an overview of Arizona's tax system, an introduction into TPT, differences between the model city tax code and state statute. They also decided on future meeting times and who would break up into working groups. The public also had time to ask questions then the meeting was adjourned. During the meeting, I had an embarrassing moment. I turned my phone to silent but did not know that I had an alarm set. Even though my phone was on silent it went off due to the alarm. Sitting in front of the room I disrupted the entire meeting and felt terrible. I now know to check all settings, or just leave my phone at the office or in my car.

Website for TPT:
http://www.azgovernor.gov/TPT/index.asp

Oh look more meetings!

I loved every meeting I've attended, whether it was at MAG, the League, or the Chamber of Commerce, but today's meeting almost put me to sleep. Sorry John Wayne. This meeting was at the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce with the Tax and Budget Committee. It was the first meeting of the season and they were meeting to edit their guidelines and vision. JW explained to me that this was a room full of lawyers and lobbyists that make our laws, so every word and sentence had to make perfect sense and not be redundant. The whole document explaining their mission, goals, vision, and guidelines took a couple hours to edit. What seemed like a good sentence to me was not good enough for the room full of committee members. The meeting ended at 3 and there was still more edits to be made so they saved them for the next meeting.

Dressing up for a Conference Call

Following my research on Phoenix being a healthy city and menu labeling, the city was invited to be a part of the Let's Move Campaign committee. The committee involves other cities, the First Lady and her staff, the White House's head chef, and a few other organizations. My superiors thought I would be helpful in attending the conference call because of the research I did and could give my opinions. I was able to listen in along with the Chief of Staff for a Council Member. Even though it was a conference call, I dressed up for the meeting because of who would be present. I value what was discussed because various organizations are working together to lower obesity rates in America by starting with children. If the children learn what is good and bad eating then it is possible to lower the nation's obesity rates.

The website for Let's Move:
http://www.letsmove.gov

Smart Choices

Following the research I did for Phoenix and the healthy cities rankings, I was asked to do research on cities implementing menu labeling and write an executive summary. I liked the work asked of me because it helps Phoenix become a better city for future generations. While on vacation in California I noticed the menus and how it had calories for every item and I thought this was an innovative way to help citizens order consciously. I like the idea of menu labeling because it enticed me to order healthier items.

This is the executive summary that I wrote:

Menu Labeling Executive Summary

Existing Laws Regarding Menu Labeling

• City
• New York City, Nashville, and Philadelphia have passed menu labeling laws.
• In July 2008, New York City became the first U.S. city to ban restaurants from using artificial trans fat, and required calorie counts on menus.
• Philadelphia passed the nation’s strongest menu labeling law, requiring chain restaurants with more than 15 restaurants to disclose nutritional information.
• County
• King County, WA (Seattle), Multnomah County, OR (Portland), Ulster County, NY, Westchester County, NY, and Suffolk County, NY, are the five counties to pass similar laws.
• King County, Washington requires chain restaurants with more than 15 national locations and $1 million in annual sales to display calorie, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and carbohydrate information.
• 18 months after the King County law started, the calorie content in foods dropped. It fell by an average of 7% at sit-down restaurants, while the declines were smaller at fast food establishments.
• Researchers believe the changes are due to smaller portion sizes, and restaurants substituting in lower calorie ingredients.
• State
• California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oregon are the four states to pass menu labeling laws statewide.
• In June 2009, Oregon’s governor signed HB 2726 becoming the third state to require chain restaurants with 15 or more locations to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.
• Federal
• Section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act requires FDA to create menu-labeling regulations that affect all restaurant chains with 20 or more U.S. locations.

The Issue with Menu Labeling

            Studies were conducted to evaluate healthier eating choices when adding nutritional information to menus; research is inconclusive regarding the efficacy of menu labeling.

The Studies

• Pediatrics journal (Jan. 2010) reported that mothers made better choices for their children when provided with menus showing calorie information, but did not make the same decisions for themselves.
• Parents ordered an average of 102 fewer calories for their children than a control group not given calorie information.
• Stanford University studied customer habits at some Starbucks locations in New York City from January 2008 to February 2009 (straddling the period when the city’s menu labeling laws went into effect).
• After adding menu labeling, average calories per transaction decreased 6%, almost all of it related to food not beverages.
• Food calories per transaction decreased 14%.
• Of the calorie decrease, 75% came from buying fewer items and 25% from choosing lower-calorie items.
• Health Affairs journal surveyed 1,156 adults eating at fast-food restaurants in low-income, minority New York City neighborhoods.
• About half of the people noticed the calorie labeling, and of those, almost 28% said the information influenced their ordering.
• However, when researchers examined receipts, they detected no difference in calories compared with people surveyed in an area of New Jersey where the law did not apply and nutritional information was not available.
• American Journal of Public Health studied 303 people eating dinner, where they were randomly assigned to choose from a menu that had no calorie information, one that had calories, or one that had calories plus prominently displayed information on the recommended daily calorie intake for an average adult.
• The two groups with calorie information ordered 14% fewer calories overall at dinner than those without it.
• The group supplied with just the calorie information that were careful during dinner, consumed more calories later in the evening and ended up eating just as much as the no-calorie information group.
• Those who had a menu with the daily recommended calorie intake ate an average of 250 fewer calories during and after dinner.

Other Issues

• Restaurant foods are typically high in calorie content.
• The recommended calorie intake for an adult is 2,000 calories daily, and huge restaurant portions cause overeating leading to obesity.
• From studies conducted, it seems there is a lack of change to healthier eating when adding nutritional information to menus.
• Researchers believe menu labeling does not work but over time will potentially be effective. When it does become effective, the city might need to be prepared for decreased revenues.
• There is widespread confusion among consumers about how much they should consume in a day. How many calories it takes to maintain a healthy weight, is the question to be considered when implementing menu labeling.

The lbs. I'm gaining just walking in the door

It seems that every week there's a retirement celebration, birthday, someone bringing bagels and donuts, or "I just wanted to bake something." What goes along with all these celebrations are sweets. For someone who is training for a half marathon it was difficult to say no and keep up with the healthy eating. There are a few co-workers who showed extreme self-control and did not eat any desserts because of their dieting. The short breaks were always welcomed since we were working and looking forward to it. This was one way I was able to meet others who worked in different departments.

Cover Letters

Today I attended a session on creating the perfect cover letter. Since I'll soon be applying to internships for next summer, I need to make sure my cover letters are up to par with everyone else. I always find writing cover letters to the most difficult over interviewing and writing resumes. Cover letters are pretty much the only way to allow an employer to get to know you as a person and qualified candidate. The speaker gave good examples of cover letters and what not to put in them. I'm grateful that I attended this session since I wrote one today and it went fairly well. Let's hope I receive an interview!

The future of our light rail

During my internship I was able to attend several MAG meetings. The one that I found most interesting was the future of our transportation system specifically with the light rail. At this meeting, all the City Managers from Maricopa County were present and heard the report of where the future routes of light rail should go and what system we should use. The review of the report was very technical so I only understood about half of what was being discussed. Valley METRO and METRO Light Rail I believe works together to operate the light rail. I was impressed at how well all the cities work to make the light rail a success. They also work with other organizations like ASU. The light rail will hopefully extend to the ASU west campus in the next few years, which is impressive to know that someday all the campuses could be connected.