Advocacy Hub

On April 19, members of FWD.us, a lobbying group focused on immigration reform, and the Colorado Business Roundtable hosted a roundtable discussion with Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) on the campus of the University of Denver.

On May 11, Bob Helland, director of congressional and federal affairs, attended a congressional hearing before the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee entitled “Pesticide Registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act: Providing Stakeholders with Certainty through the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act”. The purpose of the hearing was to discuss reauthorization of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA).

On April 6, Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) and Crop Life America (CLA) conducted a roundtable at their annual Spring Regulatory Conference in Washington, D.C., called EPA Labels Live!. The discussion focused on the full life cycle of how pesticide labels make it from the lab, eventually to the end user.

The Trump administration and Congress have come to a compromise on the 11 spending bills needed to fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2017. In addition to funding domestic and defense priorities, the $1.163 trillion package also includes language providing a much-needed increase to the annual 66,000 H-2B cap.

GCSAA's Grassroots Ambassador Program continues to grow with the start of the Spring 2017 class this month. Below is the roster of our newest members, so please reach out to those you may know and congratulate them on their acceptance into GCSAA's grassroots advocacy program.

The American Association of Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) held its annual spring meeting March 6-8 in Arlington, Va., and Chava McKeel, director of government affairs, represented GCSAA at the meeting. Key discussion topics included Zika virus and funding; state level implementation of Managed Pollinator Protection Plans; and the status of neonicotinoid bans and legislation across the country.