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

There are many good reasons for having a trade organization involved in advocacy efforts. In this day and age, the most important reason must be to protect the trade from the increasing government over-reach of regulations. These agencies are issuing directives that have the power of law. We must be alert to what is going on in our state capital, and in Washington, D.C., and work with legislators on rules and regulations before being finalized.

Most agencies barely know we exist and they don’t understand our business. We must fight for our livelihoods and futures - nobody else will!  We must raise funds to hire the right people to work for us in Springfield and Washington and strengthen alliances with like-minded organizations. Our industry's future is in our hands.     

Peter Orum, Midwest Groundcovers, LLC

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

Ann Tosovsky, Home Nursery Inc.

What does the IGIA 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 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 Illinois General Assembly releases a list of proposed laws related to the environment, tax code, the workplace, transportation, the environment, employee rights, professional licensing, and much more.  It is the committee's role to advise both the executive director and our lobbyist as to what effect 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. 

In this crazy world we live in, there is only one guarantee when you are a business owner.  Somehow, there will be new regulations that will be imposed on your business.  By supporting IGIA, we are able to try to diffuse situations before they become law.  It is easier to head something off, than to fight to get something back. 

The real reason is that what we do together is what truly matters. We need to stand together, as one industry, to address these obstacles. 

Scott McAdam, McAdam Landscaping, Inc.

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 [email protected]n.net.

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