Help Make History: Participate in the First Ever Virtual NASBP Legislative Fly-In!

Due to the continuing prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many professional and trade associations have had to become more flexible and innovative, pivoting to virtual events for outreach to their communities and beyond, including advocacy outreach. NASBP is no exception and has planned its first ever virtual legislative fly-in for March 25, 2021, which is being hosted jointly with the Surety & Fidelity Association of America. Unlike in-person legislative fly-ins, which require time out of the office or away from home and attendant travel costs, virtual fly-ins offer the virtues of convenience and cost savings, permitting anyone with the desire to promote his or her industry the opportunity to do so with minimal expenditure of time and expense. For these and other reasons, NASBP and SFAA are optimistic that the 2021 Virtual Fly-in will be among, if not, the most well-attended Fly-in yet.

And having a record number of participants could not come at a more important time, as 2021 marks the start of a new Congress, the 117^th Congress, and a new congressional cycle, with new faces elected to Congress and members of Congress in new leadership positions. Legislation to improve national economic conditions is, no doubt, prominent among the goals of many, if not all, members of Congress; and infrastructure investment will be a key component. Educating members of Congress on the purposes and merits of surety bonds to preserve infrastructure investments and to protect taxpayers dovetails nicely with the business that will be before Congress, and the more fly-in participants, the more the voice of surety will be amplified on Capitol Hill!

Participation in the virtual fly-in is easy and free for NASBP and SFAA members, but registration is required by March 11. NASBP and SFAA have engaged a consultant to facilitate and coordinate individual congressional meetings, taking the burden off the shoulders of registrants. Further, NASBP and SFAA will ensure that all Fly-in participants have speaking materials that make his or her advocacy outreach on point and effective. An orientation session is being planned for participants the day before scheduled virtual meetings with Congressional offices, so everyone is familiar with the process ahead of time. Among the specific talking points will be the general benefits of surety bonds; the need to ensure bond requirements for federal investment in infrastructure; the need to allow surety bonds as an acceptable alternative to letters of credit on federally supported rural broadband projects; and the need to exclude the federal Miller Act, a protective statute, from rote indexing for inflation, which may increase the bond threshold.

Ideally, NASBP and SFAA are hoping that the surety industry will have virtual Legislative Fly-in participants hailing from all 50 states, demonstrating the reach of the surety industry and its impact on the nation’s advancement and welfare. If you have ever thought of advocating in DC for the benefit of your industry but could not take the time to make the trip, this is your opportunity. You have my guarantee that we’ll make it easy, and you, in turn, can make all the difference! Register now.