News | Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA)

Wed, 08/01/2012 - 07:34

SEMA News—August 2012

CHRIS KERSTING

Our primary mission here at SEMA is simple: to help our member businesses succeed and prosper. One of the most important ways we do that is through legislative and regulatory advocacy. In a nutshell, it’s our goal to make your voices heard.

To that end, SEMA supports a dedicated and highly active team of government affairs experts on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. They’re focused on identifying and affecting issues that make a difference to your business.

This can only be accomplished by continuous, year-round activity and a long-term presence. To be effective, we need to take consistent, well-researched positions, to follow up as the legislative process unfolds and to persist as debate over key issues
plays out.

In this issue, you’ll find an update on the state of affairs in our nation’s capital, highlights of some of the important strategic initiatives now in progress and a recap of valuable resources available to members. It’s a snapshot of some of the issues your association is addressing on the legislative front, as they stand today.

You’ll see that our focus is not, by any means, strictly on the federal level. SEMA’s legislative/regulatory team is based in D.C., but we advocate on legislative issues coming out of every state and work to develop and nurture relationships with state legislators through our State Automotive Enthusiast Leadership Caucus, which now numbers approximately 600 total members from all 50 states. The state legislative successes that have resulted over the years are impressive.

SEMA’s efforts to build and maintain relationships have been strengthened in several ways, including a renewal of our Congressional District Site Visit Program, through which our member companies host members of Congress at their facilities. This program provides the opportunity to build relationships and for our members to demonstrate their importance to the local and national economy—both in terms of jobs and as taxpayers.

These partnerships are also forged through the biannual Washington Rally event. During this year’s event in May, SEMA members attended more than 60 meetings with members of Congress and their staffs to stake our claim to the current legislative agenda.

Our outreach initiatives directly translated into substantial progress—in particular, our efforts to save the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and protect the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Recreation Area in Southern California. SEMA has taken the lead in protecting these sites of historic and economic value for generations of automotive enthusiasts to come.

This year, SEMA is fighting for a bill in Congress to streamline the regulatory process for manufacturers of low-volume specialty vehicles, such as kit cars and replicas. In addition, and in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the universal health care law, SEMA has demanded that lawmakers still address deficiencies that have made it difficult for our members and their workers to afford premiums for quality health care. At the end of the day, we have put ourselves in position to make a difference. We have learned that positive outcomes can be achieved through strength in numbers, by uniting thousands of small businesses and voters across the nation and helping them communicate with their elected officials.

You can take an active part in our growing efforts in several ways. First, you can join the SEMA Political Action Committee (SEMA PAC) to stay up-to-date on all of our efforts in Washington. All you have to do is become “SEMA PAC Approved” by visiting www.SEMApac.com. To stay informed of legislation effecting enthusiasts at the state and federal level, become a part of the SEMA Action Network (SAN). You can sign up at no cost at www.SEMAsan.com. With your participation, these tools help make us a more effective, responsive association.

We hope that you’ll see the benefit to having your company actively involved in the legislative/regulatory issues currently in play and take note of those still on the horizon. As always, we ask that you keep us informed of topics that may ultimately affect your bottom line and the rights of enthusiasts everywhere.

—Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO

Protecting Your Industry, Your Voice and Your Future

Wed, 08/01/2012 - 07:25

SEMA News—August 2012

LEGISLATIVE AND TECHNICAL AFFAIRS
By Doug Evans

An Election-Year Call to Action

		I feel that I have not just the right, but the obligation to call on SEMA members to take an active role in protecting our industry, our voice and our future.”—Doug Evans, SEMA PAC chairman

Let’s be honest. Politics is something we all love to hate. However, over time and based on experiences with government on the local, state and federal levels, I have become educated to the fact that relationships built with government officials are vital to our industry’s continued existence.

I feel that I have not just the right, but the obligation to call on SEMA members to take an active role in protecting our industry, our voice and our future. As chairman of the SEMA Political Action Committee (SEMA PAC), I am committed to leading and making sure that our entire industry is heard and that the millions of lives it impacts are considered on Capitol Hill and in state houses around the country. I need your help to do it.

What is SEMA PAC, and why does SEMA maintain it? Simply put, laws change. Lawmakers change. However, the public’s need to be vigilant about how the laws and lawmakers change is a constant. One way to maintain awareness and to help ensure that the changes are positive is through a PAC.

A PAC is a private group organized to help support or oppose government officials in order to promote legislation that is favorable to that group’s interests. SEMA has such a PAC, which allows us to pool our resources and gives us a larger cumulative voice on Capitol Hill. PACs are funded by personal contributions, because associations such as SEMA are prohibited from using company or association funds to make political contributions. However, SEMA is allowed to fund all administrative costs of running the PAC. Therefore, 100% of individual contributions made to the SEMA PAC are used to help elect industry-friendly legislators.

During this critical election year, the stakes for small businesses and our industry are higher than ever. In the last year, we secured the introduction of H.R. 3274, a bill to establish a common-sense system for regulating kit car and specialty vehicle manufacturers; worked to stop the introduction to the marketplace of 15% ethanol gasoline that could damage millions of older vehicles; requested U.S. Senate Resolution 452, designating July 13, 2012, as Collector Car Appreciation Day; and led the fight to save the Bonneville Salt Flats and off-highway vehicle access to Johnson Valley, California. SEMA PAC has been our most crucial component for success in pursuing these and many other issues.

As with all trade associations, SEMA must receive written permission from employees of our member companies before we can provide information regarding our efforts in Washington. We call this becoming “PAC Approved.” Completing a PAC Approval Form does not obligate anyone to contribute. It simply helps SEMA PAC to conform to the law, do a better job of furthering the impact of the PAC and allows us to contact you with updates on what’s happening in Washington and which members of Congress are friends of our industry.

I encourage you to complete the one-page form available at www.SEMApac.com. It takes just two seconds. You can also contact Dan Sadowski, SEMA PAC administrator and director of congressional affairs at dans@SEMA.org.

As we pave the way for our young people to lead and as we take advantage of the emerging technologies that they will have a hand in innovating, let’s make sure first that we leave them a thriving and healthy industry.

I wish all of you many glorious triumphs now and in the future.

Protecting Your Industry, Your Voice and Your Future

Wed, 08/01/2012 - 07:25

SEMA News—August 2012

LEGISLATIVE AND TECHNICAL AFFAIRS
By Doug Evans

An Election-Year Call to Action

		I feel that I have not just the right, but the obligation to call on SEMA members to take an active role in protecting our industry, our voice and our future.”—Doug Evans, SEMA PAC chairman