SAF members met in 166 legislative offices on Capitol Hill last week during the 28th annual Congressional Action Days.  Their goal: to raise awareness and generate support for three industry concerns: immigration reform, increased floral and nursery research funding and permanent estate tax reform.  Feedback — both good and bad — from those meetings helps focus the work of SAF's legislative staff throughout the year.  Here are a few highlights.

Michelle Castellano of Mellano & Company in San Luis Rey, Calif., met with more than a dozen representatives, but the meeting with the staffer from  Rep. Dennis Cardoza's (D-18-Calif.) office was her favorite of the day. "We were supposed to meet with the congressman but he was called to a vote, so we met with Anne Cannon [his senior legislative assistant]," Castellano said.  She was impressed by how nice Cannon was to her delegation. "Obviously Congressman Cardoza is supportive of our issues. Though he supports an elimination of the death tax; they are realistic and would like to see an alternative plan proposed."

Castellano's meeting with Troy Phillips, an agriculture legislative assistant for Rep. Sam Farr's (D-17-Calif.) office, also went exceedingly well. "Ever since he visited us on a congressional tour at Mellano & Co. several years ago, he always remembers me and is always polite," she said. "Inviting a member of Congress to tour your facility is a great way to build a working relationship," said Jeanne Ramsay, senior director of government relations for SAF.

Rep. Susan Davis (D-53-CA) (left) meets with Michelle Castellano of Mellano & Company (middle) and Barbara Schnur of S.F. Brannan Street Wholesale Florist (far right).

A visit with Rep. Susan Davis (D-53-Calif.) included an engaging dialogue about controversial immigration reform. The congresswoman told Castellano that she receives much more mail from opponents than supporters — reinforcing that businesspeople need to speak up and make their voices heard on such an emotional issue.

Linda Zoerb, AAF, of La Crosse Floral Co., Inc. in Lacrosse, Wis., met with policy advisor Erik Olson from Rep. Ron Kind's (D-3-Wis.) office and thanked him for the continued support of AgJOBS. Zoerb thought the office, as a whole was "very, very receptive."

Again, Zoerb stood out because of her involvement at the local level. "The whole staff wanted to meet me because of hearing about my press conference with Ron two weeks ago in Lacrosse, Wis.," added Zoerb.

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-4-Kan.) was visited by constituent and SAF member Ben Miller of Stutzman Greenhouse, Inc. in Hutchinson, Kan. who says that the congressman was "surprised at the size of our industry." That sentiment was expressed by several other Congressional Action Days attendees — particularly when they mentioned the size of the industry in relation to its relatively small share of federal research dollars.  "Congressional Action Days is the perfect opportunity to educate Congress about the importance of the U.S. floral industry," explained SAF's Ramsay.

An SAF delegation paid a visit to the office of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Manny Gonzales from Tiger Lily Florist in Charleston, S.C., met with agriculture legislative aide Jacqueline Wood and discussed the fundamentals of immigration reform. Wood acknowledged the crisis and told Gonzales that the senator is for the SAVE Act but "knows there must be a viable worker program." SAF opposes the SAVE Act because it is an "enforcement-only" bill which does not address the issue of how to continue to have an adequate agricultural workforce in this country.

Marty Loppnow of Waukesha Floral & Greenhouses (right) and his wife, Jane at the Issues Briefing during SAF Congressional Hill Days.

Marty Loppnow of Waukesha Floral & Greenhouses in Waukesha, Wisc., is a veteran Congressional Action Days attendee. He reports that Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-5-Wis.) was very vocal about his opposition to any immigration reform legislation that allows undocumented workers to earn their citizenship.  But Loppnow said he held his ground.  "SAF applauds Marty for standing firm and providing another point of view for the congressman," said SAF's Ramsay.

New Jersey members W. Kurt Schroeder, AAF, AIFD, PFCI of Delaware Valley Floral Group in Sewell and Randy Schenauer of The Elite Flower in Galloway, visited Rep. Albio Sires's (D-13-N.J.) office. The duo met with Hannah Brown, the immigration legislative aide as well as Gene Martorony, chief of staff.

"We got a reaction from Mr. Martorony when he found out floriculture and nursery crops are number one in New Jersey," Schroeder and Schenauer said.

SAF appreciates the time and commitment of members who took the time to come to Washington and share their concerns.  In the months ahead, we will use feedback from their meetings to continue to advance issues critical to the health of the U.S. floral industry.

 --The Editors
mschimminger@safnow.org

 

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