To serve as the voice of the pest control industry, protecting the livelihood of pest management professionals while fostering education, promoting professionalism, raising ethical standards, enhancing environmental stewardship, improving public health and quality of life.
As a past president of the WPCA, I have had the honor of representing your association at NPMA’s Legislative Days on two occasions. The first time was in 2007 as president of the WPCA and the second was in 2009 as past president. Each time, I was joined by Dr. Jim Sergeant from Copesan and in 2009, by Mark Mumm from Orkin and Keith Baricovich from Up North Services.
While at Legislative Days I also participated in the joint State meetings for our industry. As a WPCA representative I was able to “lobby” the NPMA leadership for better representation of our state association within the NPMA.
In order for one to fully appreciate the value of something, it’s important to understand its purpose. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia on lobbying.
Lobbying is the practice of influencing decisions made by the government (in groups or individually). It includes all attempts to influence legislators and officials, whether by other legislators, constituents, or organized groups. A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby. Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying.
Economist Thomas Sowell defends corporate lobbying as simply an example of a group having better knowledge of its interests than the people at large do of theirs. However, there are ongoing conflicts between organizations that wish to impose greater restrictions on lobbying activities, and groups that argue that such restrictions infringe on the right to petition government officials, which is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Back in 2007 when I first attended Legislative Days, it was also my first time in Washington. Not only was I clueless about what to expect from the Legislative Days events, I also had no idea what it was going to be like roaming the “halls of Congress.” While standing in the corridor outside Herb Kohl’s office it dawned on me — my first trip to DC was as a lobbyist. Over 3,000,000 people come into Washington every day and with so many of them petitioning for one cause or another, it’s no wonder bills coming out of Congress are 2,000 pages long.
If you are on the NPMA/WPCA email list, you are well aware that legislation is continually being introduced that threatens our industry. You may also have noticed that many of the bills had been introduced several times before. Thanks to the National Pest Management Association, our industry has not undergone sweeping changes in law for over ten years. But this could very well change in 2010.
Many congressmen and Senators face strong challengers in November, 2010 and it may not be unrealistic for some, or even many, to adopt a “what have I got to lose” attitude. If that were to happen, how would it impact our industry? It could result in sweeping changes for school IPM, bed bug legislation and stricter pesticide regulations, to name a few.
So the next time you’re servicing an account, imagine what it would be like having only a few choices in product. How about four times the paperwork? Avoiding such legislation that creates these consequences is what the efforts of your state and national associations are all about.
I look forward to once again joining Mark, Keith and Doc Sergeant in DC on March 1st and 2nd.
Brent T. Towle
Past President WPCA
Owner Spectrum Pest Control Eco-Tech LLC
A QualityPro Company