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Welcome to ASLA Lobby Day 2008. ASLA members from across the
country came together on May 8 in our nation’s capital
to help educate their members of Congress about public policy
issues that are important to our members. ASLA leadership,
students, and members met with hundreds of Representatives,
Senators and their staffs to discuss the Historic American
Landscapes Survey (HALS), Global Climate Change legislation
and the Green Energy Education Act. Thank you for your participation
and successful advocacy on behalf of the profession.
Announcements:
[6/5/08] The text of the Manager's Amendment to S. 2191 (Climate
Change) has been added.
[4/30/2008] Summary and talking points for the Energy Conservation
through Trees Act (HR 5867) are now available.
[4/29/2008] Information on Energy Conservation through Trees
Act now available, including text of bill (talking points
to follow soon). Also added the recording of the April 29
webinar.
[4/24/2008] Video/audio of first Webinar available on this
page.
[4/11/2008]The Climate Change talking point sheets have been
updated.
Issue # 1:
Funding for the Historic American Landscapes Survey
(HALS) - ASLA is urging Congress to provide the National
Park Service with funding necessary to effectively implement
HALS and to support local efforts to document nationally significant
landscapes. ASLA is requesting $800,000 in the Fiscal Year
2009 Interior Appropriations bill to fund HALS.
Issue # 2: Climate
Change - ASLA is urging legislators to pass comprehensive
climate change legislation during the 110th Congress. More
importantly, ASLA encourages landscape architects to share
with their legislators any local landscape architecture projects
that are helping to mitigate climate change, including site
planning projects, innovative stormwater management practices,
the planning and development of smart growth communities,
green roof projects, and comprehensive transportation planning.
Note that there are different pieces of legislation
in each chamber - See talking points for details.
- ASLA
Statement on Climate Change (pdf)
- House: The Safe Climate Act of 2007 -
sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
- Senate: America’s Climate Security Act of
2007 - sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and
Sen. John Warner (R-VA)
Issue # 3 (Senate Only):
Green Energy Education Act of 2007- H.R. 1716 creates
a partnership between the Department of Energy and the National
Science Foundation to support undergraduate and graduate programs
that offer curricula focusing on the design and construction
of high performance buildings, including programs in architecture,
landscape architecture, and engineering. The bill is sponsored
by Congressman Michael McCaul (Texas) and was passed unanimously
by the House of Representatives in June 2007. It now includes
an amendment that specifically included landscape architects
in the category of design professionals that are critical
to designing energy efficient buildings.
Issue # 4 (House Only):
Energy Conservation through Trees Act of 2008 - Representative
Doris Matsui (CA) introduced H.R. 5867 to help improve air
quality and lower the need for energy consumption. This legislation
would establish a grant program to utilize targeted residential
tree planting techniques as a means of helping to reduce energy
usage in homes across the country. ASLA began working with
the Congresswoman early last year in conjunction with Casey
Trees on this bill. ASLA is particularly pleased to report
that the final version of the legislation includes specific
recognition of landscape architects in addition to ASLA-recommended
provisions, including:
- Establishing an education and information campaign to
encourage residents to maintain their shade trees over a
long term.
- Requiring monitoring and reporting on the survival, growth,
overall health and estimated savings of the provided trees.
- Requiring tree recipients to provide stewardship and care
of the trees.
Background Information and Tools:
- The ASLA
Advocacy Network allows you to access background
information on members of Congress. Learn what matters to
your Representative & Senators: Visit OpenCongress.org
and Congress's website
to identify legislation that your Members of Congress have
sponsored.
- Wondering what to expect when you meet
with your legislator? Check out ASLA's Guide
to Interacting with your Legislator for more
information.
- The map
of the Capitol Complex provides an overview
of the House and Senate office buildings. The Washington
Hyatt is to the north of this map, just to the west of Union
Station.
- Be sure to thank your members of Congress for
meeting with you at Lobby Day. If you left the information
about the staff person that you met with on your meeting
report form, just email
us.
Lobby Day Schedule:
- All times Eastern Daylight Time
- Ongoing: ASLA will be scheduling meetings for attendees
with their Senators and Representative. If you have not
already sent your home address information to staff, please
do so today (contact information is listed below).
- Wednesday, April 23
- 1:00-2:00pm: Webinar Session: How to Lobby (review
of what to expect and how to prepare for Lobby Day).
See above for a link to a recording of this webinar.
- Tuesday, April 29
- 1:00-2:00pm: Webinar Session: Lobby Day Issues and
Messages. See above for a link to a recording of this
webinar.
- Wednesday, May 7 (Room: Columbia A/B - Ballroom Level)
- 3:00-5:30pm: BOT/CPC Training Session (Open to all
Lobby Day attendees)
- Thursday, May 8 (Lobby Day HQ: Capitol Room - Lobby Level)
- 7:00-8:00am: Breakfast Available
- 8:00-9:30am: Issue Briefing (Mandatory)
- 10:00-4:00: Congressional Meetings; HQ room open all
day
- 11:00-2:00: Boxed Lunch available in HQ
- 5:30-7:00pm: Debriefing Session and Reception
- All events, except Congressional Meetings and webinars,
will take place at the Washington
Hyatt Regency
Getting Ready for Lobby Day:
As you get ready to come to Washington, a little bit of homework
will make you a more effective advocate. All of the information
you need is on (or linked to) this page.
- Get to know your legislators: What do
they care about? What legislation have they introduced?
On what committees do they sit?
- Read background materials and factsheets for
the issues. Lobby Day Packets containing
helpful materials and information were sent to most attendees
in April. Those with later RSVPs will pick up these packets
on-site. All of the information that was
sent out is also on this webpage and late-breaking additions
are now also included below.
- ASLA hosted two webinars in preparation for Lobby
Day. Recordings of the webinars are available:
Please do not hesitate to contact any member of the Government
Affairs staff at any time with questions, requests for additional
information, or for anything that will support your efforts.
Our contact info follows:
Roxanne Blackwell, Federal Government Affairs Manager, (202)
216-2334, rblackwell@asla.org
Dan Lijana, Government Affairs Coordinator, (202) 216-2370,
dlijana@asla.org
Megan Ciarfalia, Legislative Assistant, (202) 216-2357, mciarfalia@asla.org
Julia Lent, Government Affairs Director, (202) 216-2330, jlent@asla.org
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