The U.S. Congress often finds itself immobile. Though our capital faces no shortage of legislators with novel ideas and a genuine desire to improve our nation, it also has disagreement and partisanship in surplus. The results have been clear to even the casual observer for years: Congress struggles to make substantive policy decisions or even maintain existing policies. It should come as no surprise that this January marked 16 years since more Americans approved of Congress’ performance than disapproved. While NACD’s legislative affairs staff is highly active and effective in working on issues impacting the industry on a federal level, it is increasingly clear that through Congress’ inaction, it is losing much of its preemptive power. While much of that power is moving towards the agencies, state governments are taking matters into their own hands as well.
Now more than ever, state legislators are engaging on issues that have traditionally – and correctly – been the responsibility of the federal government. In Virginia, new legislation has been proposed to regulate and require registration for above ground storage tanks containing chemicals. In New Jersey, a bill modifying the definition of an independent contractor that threatens to exacerbate the driver shortage further has been introduced. In Illinois, where a flurry of concerning legislation has been put forward, a proposal was made to set strict requirements and pay minimums regarding who companies hire to build chemical facilities. On top of these are bills all over the country focusing on other labor provisions, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, ethylene oxide, marijuana, and flame retardants, just to name a few. As a result of the increased activity, NACD is for the first time rolling out an organized state-level advocacy strategy to engage on these emerging issues where we can be most effective.
NACD is focusing on three key steps to ensure we have as much information as possible while remaining focused on the initiatives posing the greatest risk. In pursuit of the first focus, tracking and awareness, NACD has contracted with a new service that filters by issue through the online presence of legislators and other organizations in addition to tracking the hundreds of thousands of introduced bills and regulations coming from the states. Paired with our participation in state-focused coalitions here in Washington, D.C., this ensures we stay abreast of policy developments as they happen in real-time. NACD’s second focus is to engage the association’s immense grassroots support with state legislators. Our new ChemReACTions grassroots advocacy tool, Constituent Voice, is currently being refitted to allow for state engagements in the same, easy way members are accustomed to for federal campaigns. (For your log-in and password information, please contact NACD Coordinator, Government Affairs, Erin Getz). Lastly, NACD is working to coordinate with state chemical associations to bolster existing advocacy campaigns and empower the organizations that know the political landscape best.
Once in place, these three steps will provide NACD with the tools necessary to act on state issues through direct advocacy, financial assistance, and social media engagement. The legislative affairs team, guided by our Board of Directors and Government Advocacy Committee, is excited to get this new initiative up and running. We are confident this will be a great new step in NACD’s mission to represent chemical distributors – now beyond Capitol Hill and into statehouses.
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