[Legislative Day] Legislative Day at 25

Editor’s note: In the following article PCT takes a look at the evolution of NPMA Legislative Day, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012. The 2012 event, sponsored by FMC Professional Solutions, takes place Feb. 26-28, at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information visit www.npmapestworld.org or call 703/352-6762.

NPMA Legislative Day has evolved into a premier event for increasing the awareness of key legislative and regulatory issues impacting the pest management industry. In recent years, Legislative Day has been attended by 400 to 800 industry professionals — a far cry from Legislative Day events 20-plus years ago.

“I remember the second Legislative Day and we had maybe 50 people,” said NPMA Senior Vice President Bob Rosenberg. “So, we’ve gone from an industry that wasn’t known on Capitol Hill to one that has become a power, become a force and has become very successful.”

Rosenberg said the pest control industry has made significant inroads withCongress the past 25 years on a variety of issues, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA); bed bug legislation; hazardous materials DOT legislation; and the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). “None of these successes would have been possible if it was just a couple lobbyists working the Hill — it needed the grass-roots support that occurs at Legislative Day,” Rosenberg said.

PCOs have a power that they sometimes don’t even know they have, Rosenberg added. “[PCOs] are known throughout their community. People up on Capitol Hill belong to the same clubs, go to the same churches, their kids go to school together, they do business together. They’ve got a lot of influence — it’s just a matter of being willing to use it. If we can get constituents in to see their members of Congress and they can articulate the concerns that need to be articulated, you get an awful lot of traction.”

Featured Speakers. This year’s Legislative Day will feature keynote addresses by the following renowned speakers.

Haley Barbour (R-MS). Called one of “the most powerful Republicans in politics,” Haley Barbour, former governor of Mississippi and former chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association, is one of the top political strategists in the country. Now in his eighth and final year as governor, Barbour helped put Mississippi on a new path in job creation, education, health care, and energy. During this keynote presentation, Barbour will provide attendees an outlook on the political landscape during what is expected to be a significant election year. Barbour’s presentation is sponsored by FMC Professional Solutions.

Political strategist Dick Morris. Among the most prominent American political consultants in the country, Dick Morris is almost universally credited with piloting Bill Clinton to a stunning comeback re-election victory in 1996 after the president lost Congress to the Republicans two years prior. Once called “the most influential private citizen in America” by Time Magazine, Morris has become a familiar figure as a political commentator. He is well known for hard hitting, nonpartisan, objective commentary about the U.S. political scene. He writes a weekly column for the New York Post and another for the Hill Magazine in Washington, D.C. His presentation is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences.
 

More to Come. This article is part one of PCT’s NPMA Legislative Day preview; part two will be included in February PCT and it will review the issues that pest management professionals will be advocating for at NPMA Legislative Day.
 

The author is managing editor of PCT and can be contacted at bharbison@gie.net.

Hotel Info
To reserve your hotel room at the historic Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, call 202/347-3000 by February 3, 2012 and mention “NPMA” to receive the group rate of $288 per night. After Feb. 3, rooms and the group rate are subject to availability.