ATSSA The Signal Nov/Dec 2019

The Signal | November/December 2019 37 Member Engagement Chapter Presidents’ Council Midyear Meeting Summaries ATSSA committees and councils convened during the Association’s 2019 Midyear Meeting, held August 21–23 in San Diego. Members worked on key ATSSA initiatives for the year. These committees and councils will meet again at ATSSA’s 50th Annual Convention & Expo, January 24–26, 2020 in New Orleans. During the Chapter Presidents’ Council meeting Nate Smith, ATSSA’s vice president of government relations, demon- strated ATSSA’s interactive state issue map, which monitors state legislation affecting the roadway safety infrastructure industry. The map, available at ATSSA.com/StateIssueMap, can filter by year, state, and/or issue, giving members the latest information available on relative legislativemovement. Four chapters (California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas) have held official state advocacy days and several have had success getting legislation passed. ATSSA continues to provide chapter leader training to assist members with their volunteer roles. A webinar on “How to Make Motions and Use Consent Agendas” is now available on the Chapter Presidents’ Council webpage. The first train- ing module for chapter management is also available at the same location. The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) Task Force recom- mended the following action steps for each chapter to actively play a role in understanding their state(s) Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) data and to be a part of the decision-making process for how HSIP funds are spent: The Government Relations (GR) Committee heard presenta- tions about the Senate action on the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act reauthorization. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed their bill, America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act, out of commit- tee in late July. Additionally, theGRCommittee voted toapprove a new legislative policy focused on guardrail inspections and • Chapter leaders need to understand the mission/goals of the SHSP Council. Should the name of the council be revisited so members understand you want industry involved [especially if it is mainly attracting Department of Transportation (DOT) officials]? • Chapter leaders require education of how safety data is utilized, how that data frames the development of a state’s SHSP, and why industry representation is important. • Chapters shall appoint a dedicated ATSSA representative to attend and participate in developing each state’s SHSP and in addition, represent the chapter (or send a proxy) by attending ATSSA’s SHSP Council. • Each chapter should have standing meeting agenda item to discuss the state SHSPs, and annually invite a DOT official to update the chapter about their SHSP efforts. Government Relations Committee maintenance. This policy will now go to the Board of Directors for their consideration. Immediately after theGRCommittee, theATSSAPACOversight Committee met and discussed fundraising activities for the rest of 2019 and into 2020. The committee is aggressively working tomeet the fundraising goals for our industry’s polit- ical action committee.