ACEC/NC Legislative Committee Meeting Minutes August 08, 2017 11:30 am Chair: Jeremy Potter Vice Chair: Jay Barr Board Liaison: Brian Glidewell Attendees: Brian Glidewell, Jeremy Potter, Jay Barr, Jim Smith, Gary Hartong, Jessica Mills, Terry Winebrenner, Joshua Massrock, Monty Irvin, Radha Swayampakala, Phyllis Elikai (via phone), John Weavil (via phone) 1. Welcome and Introduction of Chair/Vice Chair/Board Liaison a. Jeremy Potter introduced as the Chair for the upcoming year. b. Jay Barr introduced as the Vice-Chair for the upcoming year. c. Brian Glidewell introduced as the Board Liaison. d. Introductions of the attendees. 2. Review and Approve Meeting Minutes from 6/13/2017 a. Meeting Minutes from 6/13/2017 were approved. b. No comments were noted. 3. Discuss Committee Goals 2017/2018 a. A description of the committee was provided and a brief outline of the 2017/2018 goals. (See attachment, LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE) 4. Discuss Committee Objectives a. No comments were noted in regards to the ongoing discussion of Is the committee meeting its commitment to membership? 5. Meetings with NC and US Reps in Home Districts a. Rally for Rep. Mark Meadows August 15 (Fletcher, NC) i. Jim Smith and Reggie Scales plan to attend. b. Rep. Virginia Fox August 22 (Statesville, NC) i. Multiple ACEC/NC representatives plan to attend. c. Rep. David Rouzer August 17 (Four Oaks, NC) i. Jim Smith, Monty Irvin, Gary Hartong (tentative) plan to attend. d. Jim Smith will be working on future meetings with Sen. Tillis and Sen. Burr in the upcoming weeks. Maybe a Tillis representative could attend a future committee meeting? e. Rep. Alma Adams is organizing a local transportation committee. i. Radha offered to reach out and inquire more about this. 6. NC Legislative Update a. Jim Smith mentioned that he will be providing an updated Legislation of Interest to the Engineering Industry document.
b. Jim Smith will also provide a budget summary in the upcoming weeks with what will affect the industry. 7. Recent Events a. Environmental Committee Social July 20 th i. 30-ish attendees. b. Summer Conference, Wrightsville Beach July 27th-30 th i. The organization of the sessions received positive feedback. ii. Approximately $5,800 was raised at the auction. 8. Upcoming Events a. Legislative Golf Tournament at Prestonwood August 14 th i. Registration/Breakfast begins at 7:30 1. Sponsorships sold out. 2. 62 golfers registered. ii. Shotgun Start at 9:30. iii. Raffle 1. Yeti cooler. 2. Range finder. 3. Round of golf for 4 at Prestonwood. iv. ACEC/NC polo shirts will be on sale for $50 and the entire cost is a PAC donation. 9. PAC Updates a. ACEC/PAC i. The summer conference was a success and brought the total fundraising to $10,925. ii. Currently at 33% of total fundraising goal ($33,463) for 2017. b. NEW: ACEC/NC State PAC and Independent Expenditure Account (IE) i. Bylaws will be complete in the upcoming weeks (hopefully by early September). 1. Explain the roles, rules and obligations of each PAC. 2. Confirm everyone understands their roles. ii. An ACEC/NC State PAC logo will need to be established to distinguish from the national PAC. Maybe the Business Practices Committee (marketing subcommittee) could provide logo assistance. iii. Soon the State PAC and IE will be establishing fundraising goals. 1. Opportunities to develop task forces to help organize events. iv. See attached slideshow for additional details. (Slideshow is from the Summer Conference and was used to introduce the State PAC and IE) v. Inaugural Members of ACEC/NC State PAC and ECNC IE (See attached) c. EPAC i. ACEC/NC is officially no longer a part of EPAC as of June 30 th, 2017. ii. EPAC will continue as a PENC exclusive PAC.
10. ACEC Committee/Forum Liaison Updates a. Established new Legislative Committee/Forum Liaisons for the upcoming year. The intent is for each liaison to follow up with that specific committee and inquire if there are any topics that need to be discussed at an upcoming Legislative Committee meeting. i. Board: Brian Glidewell ii. Environmental & Energy: Gary Hartong iii. Transportation: Terry Winebrenner iv. B & I (Econ. Dev.): Jay Barr v. Senior Leaders Forum: Stephanie Hachem vi. Business Practices Forum: Phyllis Elikai 11. Attachments a. Legislative Committee description and goals document. b. ACEC/NC State PAC and ECNC IE presentation. c. Inaugural members of ACEC NC PAC Board of Trustees and ECNC Board of Governors. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting is anticipated to be on Tuesday, October 10 th at lunchtime at the ACEC/NC office. Meeting adjourned at 1:15 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Jeremy Potter, P.E. Jay Barr, P.E. END OF DOCUMENT
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Board Liaison: Brian Glidewell, S&ME 2017/18 Chair: Jeremy Potter, HDR Past Chair: Brian Glidewell, S&ME 2017/18 Vice Chair: Jay Barr, REI Past Vice Chair: Jeremy Potter, HDR Description: This committee monitors State and National legislation that may impact the engineering industry. The committee compiles the Council s legislative agenda for approval by the Board of Directors and assists in the lobbying efforts to support that agenda. The committee also promotes and organizes events that focus on furthering the Council s legislative agenda. Support the State PAC/IE and ACEC/PAC in their efforts. Goals 2016-2017: 1 Develop Legislative Agenda for the 2017 long session 2 Review the committee s objectives and activities to determine if we are meeting our commitment to the membership and providing value to our members 3 Organize a task force and develop a plan of action for meeting with both NC and US representatives in their districts to develop closer relationships. 4 Member recruitment / after-hours networking events / briefings with representatives a. Recruit Future Leaders graduates to participate b. Election updates / Legislative debrief events c. Similar events like the legislative debrief at the Busy Bee 5 Assist with planning and coordinating activities associated with Consulting Congress Days in Washington (CCD) and the NC Day at the Legislature 6 Support ACEC/PAC by: a. promoting activities, b. fundraisers (auctions, golf tournament, legislative debrief sessions), c. encouraging financial support 7 Continue Keystone Award at the EEA banquet Successes from 2016-2017: Developed Legislative Agenda for 2017 Long Session and Board Approved in November 2016. A consistent agenda item was added for each meeting to allow opportunities for attendees to voice their opinion as to whether the committee is meeting its commitment to membership and the responses have been positive. Made great strides in meeting with our Legislators in their home districts: Pittenger, Foxx, Holding, Rouzer, Price, Hudson, Walker, and a regional representative of Thom Tillis in addition to several NCGA members. Held a Winter Reception/Legislative Update event with a good turnout at Jitti and John Davis was the guest speaker. 47 people registered and raised $540 for the PAC. Keystone Award presented to Representative John Torbett from Gastonia at the EEA banquet in November.
ACEC/PAC Holiday Auction was a big success with raising over $13,000. Total for 2016 was over $33,000 which exceeded the goal of $27,876. ACEC/PAC golf tournament August 15, 2016 at Prestonwood CC. 68 golfers participated and raised over $3,500 for ACEC/PAC. Compared to 25 golfers and $600 raised in 2014, 58 golfers and $1,300 in 2015. 2017 ACEC/PAC golf tournament will be August 14 th at Prestonwood CC. CCD and NC Day at the Legislature o Good participation for both and formats for both received good comments/input from participants o Committee hosted a debrief with the 2017 Future Leaders Class at Bad Daddy s after NC Day at the Legislature that was well attended. 2016-2017 Challenges: Committee member participation participation steady at around 10, we can still improve. Could still use more participation in out of session events with Representatives. Still would like to engage the Future Leaders class members (past and present) in the committee. Need to increase participation in CCD, especially the bus riders. Goals 2017-2018: 1 Review Legislative Agenda at the end of the Long Session and revise if needed for 2018. 2 Continue commitment to ensuring the committee is meeting its obligation to the membership and providing value to our members. 3 Continue meeting with both NC and US representatives that we have met with in the past in their districts to continue established relationships in addition to reaching out to new NCGA members. 4 Member recruitment / after-hours networking events / briefings with representatives a. Recruit Future Leaders graduates to participate (Continue visiting during Legislative Process Class and post NC Day at the Legislature Debrief.) b. Election updates / legislative debrief events. 5 Assist with planning and coordinating activities associated with Consulting Congress Days in Washington (CCD) and the NC Day at the Legislature. 6 Support ACEC/PAC by: a. Promoting activities, b. Fundraisers (auctions, golf tournament, legislative debrief sessions) c. Encouraging financial support. 7 Continue Keystone Award at the EEA banquet. 8 Support the newly formed ACEC State PAC & Independent Expenditure Account (IE)
ACEC North Carolina A Historic Step has been taken! July 29, 2017
Mission of ACEC/NC- Promote the business interests of engineering companies by providing legislative advocacy and business services On May 4, 2017, the ACEC Board of Directors voted to increase our impact in legislative advocacy.
2 New Compliments to ACEC Engineering Companies for North Carolina ECNC an Independent Expenditure Account ACEC NC PAC transition away from EPAC to our own state PAC to work in conjunction with our IE
What is Independent Expenditure? Contributions can be from firms and/or individuals Can Fund: ü ü ü ü Advertising Voter Contact (mail, phone, etc.) Events Almost anything other than direct campaign contribution. No coordination with candidate or campaign.
Benefits to ACEC We are a member based organization this allows member firms to contribute. Line item on our dues invoice. Flexibility No shelf life Resource to react quickly when needed Facilitates coalition partnering on issues.
Governance of ECNC Independent Expenditure Account (501c4): Board of Governors -- 5 members: National Director of ACEC/NC President-elect of ACEC/NC 3 At-Large Members (3 -year terms) initially appointed for 1, 2, and 3 years to rotate one atlarge Trustee each year. Inaugural Members Registered Agent Stephen Safran, Safran Law Group
Governance ACEC NC PAC State Political Action Committee (501c6): Board of Trustees 5 members Chair of Legislative Committee Vice-Chair of Legislative Committee Vice President of ACEC/NC (PAC Champion) At-Large ACEC/NC Board Member At-Large ACEC/NC Legislative Committee Member Executive Director Ex Officio Inaugural Members
The Purpose ACEC NC PAC To support candidates for North Carolina state office that share the goals/ideals of enhancing the business of engineering. ECNC -- To strengthen the effectiveness of ACEC/NC s legislative advocacy.
Relationship between Boards ACEC Board of Directors appoints members to Board of Trustees and Board of Governors. ACEC NC PAC operates as part of ACEC. ECNC operates completely independently to fulfill firewall requirements.
So what have we got? ACECPAC National PAC individual contributions ACEC NC PAC State PAC individual contributions ECNC Independent Expenditure firm contributions
ECNC Initial Funding Goals 100 member firms @ $300 $30,000 50 member firms @ $1,000 $50,000 25 member firms @ $3,000 $75,000 10 member firms @ $5,000 $50,000 TOTAL $205,000
ECNC Ultimate Funding Goals Any reason we can t have a $1M Fund?! Two ways it could happen: 200 member firms @ $5,000 OR 100 member firms @ $10,000 Either è $1,000,000
Thank-you. Questions?
Inaugural Members of ACEC NC PAC and ECNC August 2017 ACEC NC PAC Board of Trustees 5 members Chair Jeremy Potter Legislative Committee Chair Vice-Chair Jay Barr (Legislative Committee Vice Chair) Secretary Scott Hinesley (Vice President of ACEC/NC) Asst. Treasurer Brian Glidewell (Member-at-Large, ACEC/NC Board) Treasurer Steve Thomas (Member-at-Large, Legislative Com) Ex-Officio Jim Smith (Executive Director, ACEC/NC) ECNC Board of Governors - 5 members: Chair Stephanie Hachem (National Director of ACEC/NC) Vice-Chair Gary Hartong (President-elect of ACEC/NC) 3 At-Large Members: 3-year Bill Hood 2-year Jeff Douglas 1- year Randy Neuhaus (Offices of Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer to be determined) 919-781-7934 150 Fayetteville Street, Suite 1340, Raleigh, NC 27601 919-781-7319