The GAC is a group of Washington Hospitality Association members who have an interest in the public policymaking process and want to be engaged in ongoing efforts to protect and enhance our industry. Members of the GAC meet regularly to provide their input and feedback to your Government Affairs (GA) team on proposed legislation that impacts our industry.

As a member-driven organization, the association takes its direction from members like you. Your GA team’s mission is to protect and enhance the hospitality industry through the relationships they build and maintain with lawmakers. Your input on policy discussions and stories you’re willing to share as a business owner/operator are vital to your GA team’s success. Your participation and engagement with the GAC are key to securing wins for our industry.

A successful legislative strategy cannot rely on the GA team alone. Lawmakers hear from lobbyists all the time. The people they really want to hear from are their constituents like you! The relationships you currently have with lawmakers, and the ones you create in the future through your engagement with the GAC, are also important in achieving our goals.

After joining the GAC, there will be several opportunities for you to help our industry achieve legislative and political wins. Our hope is that you will be proactive in one or more of the engagement opportunities listed below:

• Attend the previous three consecutive meetings to be eligible to vote in a meeting. (Note: This is a requirement to remain a voting member of the GAC.) If you are unable to attend or participate in certain meetings, you are invited to provide your input to the GA team via email, phone or other means.
• Watch out for and respond to Action Alerts and other grassroots activities from the GA team. Text “SERVE” to 52886 to receive these action alerts on your cell phone. 
  • During the legislative session, you will see these action alerts at the top of this page.
• Fill out the GA team’s annual legislative survey to guide their direction for the upcoming session.
• Be willing to share your story with the media on key policy issues. Our PR team will coach you before any conversation with a reporter.
• Sign up and attend Hill Climb, and sign up to share your stories with your lawmakers during Hill Climb week.
• Refer a colleague or business acquaintance to Hill Climb (if they’re not already a member, connect with our membership team to learn more about Hill Climb and all of the other benefits to becoming a member.)
• Support our political action committee (PAC), which helps our industry elect moderate candidates during election season.

The GAC meets weekly during the legislative session* to ensure all positions and actions of your GA team are directed by our members. An agenda is sent before each weekly meeting (example) that highlights the most important and relevant issues.

Additionally, a bill tracker (example) is shared that identifies all of the bills the GA team is following. The tracker is organized by issue area and identifies a recommended position and priority level. The recommended positions are developed by GA staff based on their analysis of the bill and its impact on the industry as well as previous positions taken or positions on similar issues.

However, the GAC members are the ones who ultimately decide on policy direction and direct or change positions. Each week the recommended positions will be presented, and a motion will be made to accept or change the positions.

There are typically two-three GAC meetings during the legislative interim period (May-Dec).

*January-March (even years), January – April (odd years)

GAC meetings are run according to Robert’s Rules of Order. That means each meeting is run by a committee chair who calls the meeting to order and oversees the flow of the meeting and agenda. When decisions need to be made there is a motion called. That motion needs to be seconded by a GAC member for our committee to vote on the motion.

Note: You must have attended two of the previous four meetings to be a voting member of the GAC. This attendance requirement is necessary to ensure the members making decisions are aware of previous conversations and decisions the GAC has made. Regular member attendance is also needed to make sure the GA team can represent consistent positions, rather than having positions changing from week to week.

Washington Hospitality Association members interested in joining the GAC can reach out to Grassroots Coordinator Kerry Dolan and she’ll get you signed up.

The members of your GA team are experts on the political process and successful strategies. They have an obligation to ensure effective communication regarding timing, process, and policy development is clear. Please reach out to them with any questions you may have about the GAC or the legislative process. You can also reach out to your territory manager with any questions you have about the association or the benefits of your membership.

Andrea Reay – Government Affairs Senior Director

Sean DeWitz – Government Affairs Manager

Kerry Dolan – Grassroots Coordinator