The Beacon: In a Critical Year, Legislative Day Exceeds Expectations
byEben Peck, Executive Vice President, Advocacy, American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA)/
上个月,美国旅行顾问协会(ASTA)的旗帜下,来自43个州的200多名旅行社和供应商合作伙伴在华盛顿特区聚集在一起,参加了我们的年度国会“飞行”ASTA立法日.
立法日(或“腿日”)是一项仅成员的活动,将旅行顾问带到华盛顿特区,与国会议员和员工亲自见面,以教育政策制定者有关我们行业的一部分,并倡导政策的倡导者这使我们的业务和客户受益。在参加由ASTA预先安排的国会会议之前,我们培训与会者如何建立国会办公室,HILL会议最佳实践,并深入研究要讨论的政策问题。这项培训(今年,在线和面对面的人)近六个小时,可确保与会者对我们的行业和他们自己有信心。
Leg Day is the centerpiece of our annual advocacy work, the ASTA Advocacy team’s Super Bowl. We had some extra wind in our sails this year, since 12 days before the eventthe Biden administration abruptly dropped the dreaded “inbound testing rule”那个阿斯塔和其他人一直在为2022年的大部分时间而战。总的来说,今年的腿日并不令人失望。通过数字:
- 216 attendees from 43 states, both records;
- 196 Congressional meetings, 45 of which were with the Members of Congress themselves, both records;
- 颁发了三项ASTA全球旅行倡导者奖,颁发给行业冠军 - 参议员Jacky Rosen(D-NV),参议员Roy Blunt(R-MO)和众议员Carol Miller(R-WV);
- 19 bipartisan cosponsors added so far for our priority bills, the Employee Retention Tax Credit Reinstatement Act (R. 6161/S. 3625) and the Visit America Act (H.R. 6965/S. 3375);和
- $50,000 raised for ASTA’s political efforts by Vanessa McGovern and Shannon Cunningham of Gifted Travel Network (you can watch their June 22 live stream onASTA的Facebook页面).
Having done this work for over twenty years, I can say with certainty - there is nothing more impactful than constituents coming to DC to meet with their legislators face to face. Members of Congress are inundated daily with phone calls, emails, and other pleas on every conceivable policy issue.
Nothing focuses the mind like constituents taking the time and expense to come to DC and advocate in person. Those who attended Legislative Day were critical to helping us move the ball down the field toward our advocacy goals. Advocacy is a year-round activity, but Leg Day is central to what we do in Washington.
不过,这不仅仅是推进政策议程。这是关于向国会议员及其员工教育旅行社行业的运作方式,我们为他们的选民所做的工作以及顾问是旅行体验的核心部分的事实。也许最重要的是,这是我们成员参与民主的一种方式。美国宪法保证每个美国人都有“请求政府纠正申诉”的权利。尽管我们的不满可能不如在库维德(Covid)的高峰期强烈,但剩下的剩下是腿一天的全部。
不要只是说我的话。一位与会者在事后调查中指出:“立法日是旅行顾问/供应商行业中最有力,最独特的活动。与立法者亲自讨论与旅行有关的问题,比我们能做的任何事情都更具印象!”
Another, after her second Legislative Day, said “I highly encourage everyone to get involved. This is not about ‘politics,’ this is about advocating for your industry. I was so inspired by my experience last year that I have since gotten involved in my local community as a member of my township's Board of Trustees.” A third attendee, a first timer, observed that Leg Day “is an intense but quick education for travel advisors to step out from behind their computer and phones to help themselves in their daily battle with behind the scenes travel issues that affect their daily business.”
Save the date for next year – June 20-21, 2023. We hope you can join us!