MIAAP Kids Health Hero Award
The MIAAP Kids Health Hero Award recognizes non-physicians who work alongside MIAAP to improve the health and well-being of children in Michigan.
2024 Recipients: Representative Carrie Rheingans + Representative John Fitzgerald
Representative Carrie Rheingans
Representative Rheingans was the sponsor of House Bill 4511, which is part of the bill package to update Michigan law with respect to car seat safety. She brought a tremendous level of commitment and energy to getting HB4511-12 passed to improve the safety of carseats in Michigan. She and her staff were instrumental in organizing the different interest groups, elevating the profile of this issue among the press corps through hosting a press conference, and working tirelessly with her colleagues to see this legislation across the finish line. The efforts to update Michigan law related to car seat safety standards was more than a decade long effort. In that decade, there have been all sorts of obstacles that caused the effort to fail. It took a legislator with skill and determination of Representative Rheingans to see this legislation finally come to fruition.
Representative John Fitzgerald
Representative John Fitzgerald was the sponsor of House Bill 4512, which is part of the bill package to update Michigan law with respect to car seat safety.
MIAAP has been working to update car seat safety standards for nearly a decade, so when we approached Representative Fitzgerald, we were pleased to learn that as a new father and possessing family legacy of championing traffic safety initiatives-he was interested in sponsoring one of the bills.
Representative Fitzgerald was a tireless advocate seeing these all the way to the finish line. There were multiple occasions where this legislation could have been derailed, but his ability to work with his colleagues to garner support and communicate with MIAAP and other groups in support of the bills kept things on track. As the bills moved to the Senate, Representative Fitzgerald and his staff continued to put in the effort get the bills out of the Senate and on to the Governor. Earlier this year, on April 9, House Bill 4512 was signed into law.