On April 1, 2025, sweeping federal budget cuts dismantled core tobacco prevention infrastructure across the U.S. This second installment examines how these changes are already impacting research, youth education, quitline services, and local programs like SacBreathe’s Tobacco-Free Screens.

Across the country, schools, food banks, and community-based programs are dealing with major federal funding cuts. These programs have helped schools and food banks source local, fresh food to keep communities connected to their food systems.

On March 10th, hundreds of students and youth activists for change in tobacco policy rallied through the streets of downtown Sacramento and made their voices heard at the heart of California: the State Capitol.

This July, BREATHE staff and members of our Youth Advisory Board (YAB) had the opportunity to attend the annual California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN)’s Summer Youth Advocacy Conference for the second time, at the stunning Happy Valley Conference Center near Santa Cruz, California.

Breathe California Sacramento Region (BREATHE) Tobacco-Free staff participated in the 2024 Information & Education Days (I&E Days) on May 28-29, an annual event organized by the American Heart Association’s Tobacco Endgame Center for Organizing and Engagement.

Our Smoke-Free Sacramento project is working to educate the community on the issues surrounding commercial tobacco products and the impacts they have on our local environment. Our focus now is to keep our communities smoke-free, which includes parks, worksites, multi-unit housing, and empowering youth to join the fight against Big Tobacco.

Since 1917, Breathe California Sacramento Region has been advocating for clean air and healthy lungs through education, community involvement and creative solutions to impact policy. Thanks to our volunteers and continued financial support from the community, Breathe is one of the oldest and most active nonprofits in the Sacramento area. 

The Tobacco Endgame Center for Organizing and Engagement hosted its first in-person Capitol Information & Education Days (I&E Days) in the post COVID-19 era on May 8-9th.

Open to all CTCP-funded projects and the community at large, Breathe CA Sacramento Region showed up to help our policy makers understand the importance of tobacco control and tobacco’s impact on our communities.

In early 2020, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 793 into law to remove the sale of flavored tobacco products in California. The law includes provisions to remove the sale of all flavored electronic cigarettes, cigarettes (including mint and menthol flavors), and more – although it exempts a few products including hookah and premium cigars.

Simply look around. Tobacco litter is everywhere: from local grocery store parking lots to San Francisco Beaches to the American River Parkway here in Sacramento. In fact, cigarette butts are the most common toxic waste found in cleanups and can make up 37 percent of the total waste in California.

The American Lung Association recently released their 19th annual State of Tobacco Control 2021 Grades. This is an annual comprehensive report that assigns grades based on strategic methodology to counties, states, and the nation regarding tobacco control policies. Some of the policy areas considered are tobacco retail licensing, flavored tobacco bans, smoke-free multi-unit housing, smoke-free outdoor areas, and smoke-free outdoor worksites.

Breathe California Sacramento Region (BCSR) joins our community in mourning the tragic and senseless deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless Black lives taken prematurely by racist violence and police brutality.