The ITA Board was in Washington, D.C. in Late December for its final Regular Board Meeting for 2012. The purpose of the meeting was to set goals and approve budget parameters for 2013.
Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA) was our guest at this meeting. Congressman Kingston is a long-time friend of the industry and was chairman of the powerful subcommittee responsible for funding the FDA for the past two years. Congressman Kingston briefed the Board on the issues the industry will face in his committee as the new Congress convenes. As everyone knows, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) also serves on the Appropriations Committee and has made her very negative opinions of our industry clear for the past few years.
Congressman Kingston also said that the results of the November elections are viewed by the Administration as a referendum on the role of government and its continued expansion. He said we should be forewarned that our enemies on Capitol Hill will be invigorated by this election and that all businesses, not just indoor tanning businesses, should expect increased scrutiny from the regulatory agencies.
The congressman urged us not to let down our guard and told us to redouble our efforts with regard to the issues important to our industry. He thanked us for the support the industry has given him personally over the past few years and told us that we must stay active politically in the House and Senate.
As all of you know, the ITA has established and cultivated relationships over the years with dozens of key policymakers. We have built a small but very effective political action committee (PAC) to support this effort and as a result, made our industry a respected adversary to those groups who would try to put you out of business. At our meeting, the Board reaffirmed that Federal legislative and regulatory issues will be our primary and critical focus next year, and pledged to raise the resources to accomplish that goal.
The Board is meeting again in late February to lay out some new fundraising plans and fine-tune our legislative efforts for 2013.
Thanks,
Rob Quinn
