Government Relations Committee Heightens Vigilance for 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
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Posted by: ESA Communications
The month of January sets the stage for what promises to be a very busy legislative cycle for most states. Forty five states,
including biennial states like Texas, will convene during the month of January and it should make you stand up and notice. John Chwat’s blog highlighted the numerous issues that are likely to surface in the coming year and he pointed to the work the Government Relations Committee is doing to get your input on top priorities.
As the staff liaison for the Government Relations Committee, I am honored to work with the volunteer leaders, who take time from their busy days running their businesses to help shape our legislative priorities. Discussions at GR committee meetings can be lively, but they are always productive and I believe the entire membership benefits from the time and effort put into the work this committee does to stay on top of legislative issues at the state and federal level.
As John Chwat mentioned in his blog, the goal of this committee will be to identify the top priorities or legislative initiatives in play and then work with our Chartered Chapters and members to support or defend, as necessary, the most important legislation. ESA will do its best to keep members informed when bills are filed or move, to or from committees, and seek your engagement during the process.
The time to act is not after a piece of legislation is passed and you find that your business will be hampered or worse because of the intended or unintended consequences of a bill that sailed unnoticed through your state capitol. That is why ESA monitors bills in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. We hope to capture and analyze every bill that could have an impact on our industry and bring it to your attention. We will provide monthly summaries of all bills and seek your engagement on the most important pieces of legislation.
I look forward to working with the Government Relations Committee in 2015 and with our Chartered Chapter leaders as legislation works its way through the “sausage factory†of lawmaking. Thank you in advance to all members who help us work through this process.