10/18/2016

Message from Beth – October 18, 2016

What’s Happening at ACEC Ohio

Welcome Fall 2016, it’s hard to believe we are eight weeks into the college football season. At ACEC Ohio it’s been very busy. I continue to meet with state agencies and affiliate organizations to introduce myself and create synergies for the Council. The State Public Works, Communications, Transportation, Environment & Energy and Government Affairs Committees have met and kicked off their work plans for the year. In addition, on September 29, a strategic planning session was held which was the first step to draft a long range strategic plan/vision for ACEC Ohio.

This month I want to focus on advocacy efforts at ACEC Ohio. By definition, advocacy is an activity by an individual or group which aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. As ACEC Ohio members, I am hoping that each of you help us with our advocacy efforts this year. The first step is to establish a relationship database. What does this mean? ACEC Ohio plans to establish a collective repository of member relationships with elected local, state and federal officials. The importance of understanding the “grassroots” contacts with elected official’s actually complements and supports the Council’s lobbying efforts.

Why is this important? In preparation for next year’s Ohio General Assembly, which will include both the Transportation budget and the General Revenue Fund budget, as well as another attempt to enact the state sales tax on professional services, ACEC Ohio will call on you to contact your state legislative members. In the next few months, you will be asked to fill out a form and identify those elected officials that you know, starting at the local level as many local officials move onto higher offices such as the Ohio General Assembly. It’s one thing for legislators to hear from the Council’s lobbyist on a controversial issue, but it is much more personal and impactful for them to hear from businesses and constituents in their own “home” district. ACEC Ohio’s goal is to be proactive and effective advocates for the consulting engineering community, this first step is a key component to being successful in our advocacy efforts.

The relationship database is step one, however, we need to continue working at the chapter level to engage local officials at our meetings, encourage members to attend events with their elected officials and contribute to the Ohio and National Political Action Committees (PACs). Member involvement at the local level is key to our advocacy efforts. I look forward to working with you to continue implementing this objective.

As always, I welcome your feedback. Please feel free to call me with questions.

Your PAC dollars at work in September and October:

National PAC checks presented in Ohio:

• Congressman Chabot -- Stan Harris, Stantec
• Congressman Latta -- Mike Smith and Steve Bergman, Mannik Smith Group
• Congressman Renacci -- Lynn Miggins, KS Associates
• Congressman Ryan -- Tom Mosure, ms consultants
• Congressman Stivers -- Greg Heaton, CMT
• Congressman Turner -- Mark Henderson, LJB Inc.
• Congresswoman Kaptur -- Steve Bergman, Mannik Smith Group
• Senator Portman -- Chris Preto, Mott MacDonald

Ohio PAC checks presented:

• Senator Seitz -- Beth Easterday, ACEC Ohio; Tom Mosure, ms consultants

Leadership Dinners attended by:

Mike Duffey, Fred Seling, Jim Kleiningers, Lynn Miggins, Mark Henderson, Greg Heaton, Mike Ciotola, Beth Easterday, Kevin Futryk

• Senator Oelslager
• Senator Peterson
• Senator Obhof
• Ohio Senate Leadership Committee
• Speaker Rosenberger
• Ohio House Leadership Committee
  • Representative Schuring
  • Representative Pelanda
  • Representative Buchy
  • Representative McColley
  • Representative Ryan