The California Pink Plate Campaign is quickly approaching it goal of 7,500 signatures and as of Saturday morning, its just 36 signatures short.
On August 28, AB 49 (Joan Buchanan) passed the State Assembly by way of a 79-0 vote while the State Senate passed the bill 34-0. It now sits at Governor Jerry Browns desk awaiting signature. If signed, specialty license plates need 7,500 orders before they can be produced.
The Pink Plate campaign was started by four East Contra Costa County cancer survivors (Heather Solari, Chere Rush, Deborah Bordeau and Heather McCullough) nearly two years ago where they brought the idea to Assemblymember Joan Buchanan who then authored AB 49.
The four survivors have held multiple fundraisers to gain signatures such as A’s Games, 49er Games and Relay For Life to help raise awareness of the cause.
According to Solari, they didn’t get the pink in the background as they hoped in the original design but the state of California will officially have a breast cancer awareness plate and the message of early detection saving lives is what is important.
To join the cause and sign up, click here.
Where will the money go?
All funds generated from sales of the California Pink Plate will be deposited into the Breast Cancer Control Account, which funds the Every Woman Counts (EWC) program. EWC is administered by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and provides free clinical breast exams and mammograms to California’s underserved women.
The mission of the EWC is to save lives by preventing and reducing the devastating effects of cancer for Californians through education, early detection, diagnosis, and integrated preventive services, with special emphasis on the underserved. The Every Woman Counts program partners with county departments of public health and county health consortia across California to provide women with local, easy access to screenings.
We know that early detection is critical in treating breast cancer and increasing survival rates. Money generated from the California Pink Plate will allow more women across California to get regular breast exams and mammograms, potentially saving the lives of countless of women.
Here is a look at AB 49
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
AB 49, Buchanan. License plates: breast cancer awareness.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 5156.7 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
5156.7.
(a) The State Department of Health Care Services shall apply to the department, pursuant to Section 5156, to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program. The department shall issue specialized license plates for that program if the State Department of Health Care Services complies with the requirements of Section 5156.
SEC. 2.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
