By the time any proposed state legislation that affects business aviation is filed at the beginning of a state’s legislative session, you can be sure that an NBAA regional representative has been involved. Stymieing adverse proposals before they become legislation is an essential, if unheralded, part of an NBAA regional representative’s job.
“I am constantly monitoring legislation to be certain that proposed laws do not adversely affect business aviation,” said Paige Kroner, NBAA’s Central Eastern regional representative. “If unfavorable legislation is introduced, we have a multipronged approach to combating it.”
- Implementing NBAA’s Contact Congress tool so association members can send messages to their elected officials
- Targeting letters to legislators
- Holding face-to-face meetings with legislators. In fact, all six of NBAA’s representatives attend state legislative events to establish relationships with legislators.
“I believe that building the bridge with elected officials before it’s even needed is key,” declared Kroner. “It’s important that they understand the value of business aviation to their communities.”
To that end, NBAA regional representatives also have played an essential role in the formation of many state aviation caucuses, which help educate legislators about the value and importance of business aviation in their districts.
Brittany Davies, NBAA’s Northeast region representative, lauds the effectiveness of the Contact Congress resource, which makes it simple for members to let their federal and state elected officials know how they feel about proposed legislation.
“I am constantly monitoring legislation to be certain that proposed laws do not adversely affect business aviation.”
Paige Kroner Central Eastern Regional Representative, NBAA
“While we at NBAA might have more of the 30,000-foot view of what’s happening legislatively around the country, Contact Congress enables us to connect the people with their state and local representatives. We can help frame the narrative and supply the talking points, and even see which districts might need additional focus,” said Davies.
NBAA can help support local or state aviation advocacy groups with the Contact Congress tool. For example, Davies has been working closely with the New York Aviation Management Association on an aircraft sales tax issue.
How effective are these state advocacy efforts?
Steve Hadley, Southwest Central regional representative and NBAA senior director of regional programs, has been working this year on legislation in many states in his region. “We’ve had success supporting bills that preserve funding to general aviation airports and that avoid onerous tax consequences, among others,” he said.”
Review NBAA’s regional group resources at nbaa.org/regional.
SCAA Has Southern California Covered
Most people think “big” when they think of California, and both the membership as well as the geographic range of the Southern California Aviation Association (SCAA) are no exception. With more than 1,000 members spanning the area as far north as Bakersfield, south to the U.S/Mexico border and east to the Colorado River, SCAA represents a large and diverse group of operators that fly in some of the world’s busiest airspace.
Not surprisingly, providing members with networking opportunities is a key benefit provided by SCAA. From safety days to holiday parties to an annual golf fundraiser in Carlsbad and an annual event in Palm Springs and more, the association offers a variety of learning and networking functions.
“Recently, we have been looking at enhancing the quality of our programs and making them more relevant to today’s business aviation environment,” said long-time SCAA President Steve Nielsen.
The group has robust mentoring, career day and other educational programs, and has donated more than $400,000 in scholarships and aviation advancement opportunities. A unique safety program, SHARE (Safety Hazard Awareness, Reporting and Empowerment), provides an open format for dialogue and sharing of safety data among SCAA members.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.