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RVIA members will visit Senators, Representatives and key legislative staff during the association’s seventh annual Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, during Committee Week.

“Advocacy Day is vitally important to our efforts to increase awareness of the RV industry on the federal level,” said Jay Landers, senior director of RVIA’s Government Affairs Department. “Congressional visits help strengthen relationships between RVIA members and the members of Congress who represent their states and districts.”

RVIA Government Affairs staff schedule appointments with elected officials, provide briefing materials and accompany members on visits. The program also gives participants the opportunity to have photos taken with Congressmen and Senators.

Advocacy Day begins with a morning meeting during which RVIA members are briefed on the issues they will be discussing with Members of Congress. The briefing includes role-playing exercises that help RVIA members practice discussing key issues before they set out to meet elected officials.

Potential topics for discussions with Members of Congress and their staffs include RVIA’s ongoing efforts to:

• Secure a sales/excise tax deduction for RV trailers
• Lower the required AAA rating for Term Asset Backed Loan Facility (TALF) floorplan loans
• Add RV dealer floorplan loans to the Small Business Administration (SBA) 7 (a) loan program and alter the SBA size criteria for RV dealers so that more dealers can qualify as small businesses
• Request that Congress continue to encourage Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) recipients to lend to small businesses and consumers

In addition, advocacy attendees can share with Congressional offices the results of a study that favorably compares the carbon footprint of an RV vacation to other vacations and give congressional staff an update on the "greening" of the RV industry.

For more information on RVIA’s Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, please contact Jay Landers at (703) ext. 354.

Source: Recreation Vehicle Industry Association