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Why should I get involved in green industry legislative and advocacy efforts?

There are many good reasons for having a trade organization. In this day and age, the most important reason must be to protect the trade from the increasing government over-reach of regulations. From IRS and Immigration to OSHA and EPA (and acronyms we don’t even know)!

These agencies are issuing directives that have the Power of Law. Many of these directives would not have a chance to become law if they had to go through a Statehouse or Congress. We must be alert to what is going on in our State Capital (and in Washington, D.C.) and work on rules and regulations and bills before they come out and are finalized.

Most agencies barely know we exist and they don’t understand or care much about us. We must fight for our livelihoods and futures - nobody else will!  We must come up with the funds to hire the right people to work for us in Springfield and Washington and make alliances with like-minded organizations. It is up to us to save ourselves.     - Peter Orum, Midwest Groundcovers, LLC

Peter Orum

Together we are more informed, more engaged, more effective! 

By participating in green industry advocacy efforts, you are part of a grassroots network where a more informed and engaged membership has the collective ability to influence legislation, regulation and policy issues that will determine the future of our industry and your business. 

Ann Tosovsky Testimonial

What does the Public Policy committee do?

The members of the Public Policy committee represent the various segments of the industry and work closely with IGIA Executive Director, Kellie Schmidt, and our lobbyist, Molly Rockford, to review proposed legislative and policy changes that would affect our members at the state level.  At the start of the spring legislative session, the General Assembly releases a list of proposed laws related to environment, tax code, the workplace, transportation, the environment, employee rights, professional licensing, and much more.  It's the committee's role to advise both the executive director and our lobbyist as to what affect these proposed laws would have on our member businesses so that we can work with legislators to impact the necessary changes before they become rule of law. 

Scott McAdam

For more information on how to get involved with our legislative and advocacy efforts, contact IGIA Executive Director, Kellie Schmidt, at 217.546.4733 or kellie@illinoisgreen.net.

CONTRIBUTE TO IGIA PUBLIC POLICY EFFORTS