ATSSA Signal November December 2020

The Signal | November/December 2020 9 Government Relations Pamela Saunders fully embraced the virtual format of ATSSA’s Legisla- tive Briefing & Fly-In. On the first day, she worked from her desk at Holland Enterprise in Hyatts- ville, Md., during the 1–5 p.m. legislative briefing and silently slipped away and then rejoined as issues arose for her role as director of business operations. On the second day, she began her morn- ing on a job site wearing a hard hat and orange vest, then helped resolve a trans- portation problem, and made it back to her house and onto her computer for a noon, one-on-one Zoommeeting with staff member Cooper D’Anton of Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-Md.) office. The busy morning didn’t give her time for a full change before themeeting, but D’Anton couldn’t tell she had slipped a dress on over her jeans and steel-toed boots just before the online appointment. “I thought this was a phenomenal oppor- tunity,” Saunders said, and she didn’t want to keep the senator’s office waiting. Saunders said she was overjoyed when she realized she would have the undi- vided attention of staff from both of Maryland’s senators. “I can’t believe other people fromMary- land weren’t there,” she said. Saunders was one of 95 ATSSAmembers from 25 states to register for the Legis- lative Briefing & Virtual Fly-In on Sept. 15–16. The annual event is traditionally in spring and includes in-person meet- ings on Capitol Hill, but the coronavirus pandemic postponed the April event to September. It was then adjusted to virtual when the hotel where partic- ipants stay and the briefing is held wouldn’t reopen in time. The two-day event is a free, exclusive benefit for ATSSA members and each year includes a day of legislative briefings followed by a day of in-personmeetings with policymakers on Capitol Hill. The Government Relations Team set up 54 meetings with legislative offices repre - senting districts in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecti- cut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennes- see, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. Next year, the plan is to revert to an in-person event, currently scheduled for April 21–22, said ATSSA Vice President of Government Relations Nate Smith. “Although this year’s platformwas differ - ent, the mission and goals were the same: educate Congress on the need for federal investment for roadway safety infrastructure projects,” Smith said. “We were successful in delivering Members find advantages to virtual format for 2021 Legislative Briefing & Fly-In By Pamela Gould, ATSSA Staff ATSSA member Pamela Saunders of Holland Enterprise in Maryland met with Cooper D’Anton of Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-Md.) office during the Legislative Briefing & Virtual Fly-In on Sept. 16. Manager of Government Relations Cameron Greene joined them on behalf of ATSSA.