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COVER STORY
Inside Washington
SEPTEMBER 2013
Massachusetts Auto Dealer www.msada.org
“We need to let everybody who represents us know what concerns us, what our thoughts are. They have a lot of things to be mindful of, so if we’re not down there to bring things to their attention, they may go unnoticed by their office.” – MSADA Vice President Chris Connolly
by Catherine MacDonald
MSADA
MSADA Members Joined Dealers from Across the Country to Make Their Case to Legislators on Capitol Hill. O
n September 18 and 19, Massachusetts dealers joined 400 of their industry peers from across the country to represent their business before a gridlocked Washington, D.C. The annual trek ensures Massachusetts legislators are aware of the most important issues facing dealers, so they can lend their support at the federal level. NADA Director Don Sudbay joined ATD Chairman Dick Witcher, MSADA Executive Vice President Robert O’Koniewski, MSADA Vice President Chris Connolly, MSADA Clerk Charles Tufankjian, Next Gen dealer Emily Dube, MSADA legislative agent Jim Hurrell, and MSADA staff attorney Peter Brennan at the NADA Washington Conference, where they had the opportunity to hear prominent speakers, reconnect with fellow dealers, and – most importantly – make their case to legislators. O’Koniewski, who has made the trip every year since 2001, said the NADA does an excellent job of organizing the event. “They provide dealers and dealer association executives with all the background information that we need to make compelling cases before our congressmen on the issues of the day that are affecting dealerships across the country.” This background knowledge gives dealers the ability to get in front of their congressmen and make the case for business-friendly policies. “It’s a good way of developing at the federal level the grass roots input that dealers need to have with the people who write laws,” O’Koniewski said. The most significant issue brought to the table was concern about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau policies that would make it difficult for dealers to provide competitive products for consumers. “I thought we made a great case to each congressman’s office about checking in on the CFPB,” Connolly said. “That we thought our consumers would be hurt if all the things they wanted our lenders to do fell into place. It would take away flexibility in setting rates low for them.” Connolly said most of the legislators he spoke to were “very much in support” of helping dealers on the issue. Other areas of concern included possibilities of raising the excise tax on heavy duty trucks and of eliminating the accounting method known as “last-in, first-out accounting,” or LIFO. “When governments are looking for taxes they’re looking everywhere,” Sudbay said. “LIFO is certainly an area they’ve used to gain revenue. We need to put out there what www.msada.org
Massachusetts Auto Dealerr SEPTEMBER 2013
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Inside Washington our concern is.” Sudbay said all the legislators they spoke to assured them that regarding LIFO, “We don’t need to be concerned. And that’s great, but we want it out there what position we are on and this could hurt a lot of dealers.” He said dealers need to remain vigilant. “Sometimes things people thought weren’t going to be a problem suddenly are. That’s why NADA is very vigilant on these issues.” Sudbay said a frustration of the trip was “the fact that our government doesn’t seem to be working right now. I think everybody that was there took that back, and that’s not a good thing. Everything seems to be at a standstill.” Partisan bickering should hold no relevance to auto dealer issues, says O’Koniewski. “No one has ever said to us, ‘As a Democrat I can’t support that; as a Republican I can’t support that.’ Our issues and who we are as small businessmen and women transcend party lines.” Frustration with the current climate in Washington still came up often throughout the trip. Connolly said the representatives he met with were “pretty despondent about how Washington wasn’t working together.” Conference attendees heard from Karl Rove, Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas), and David Strickland, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “You get a different flavor of Republican and Democratic legislators and regulators and their perspective on what’s going on
MSADA MSADA in the industry, what their perspective is politically,” O’Koniewski said. The conference also included a presentation on how to handle media, a reception at the Air and Space Museum, and a chance to reconnect with industry colleagues. “It gives dealers a chance to rekindle long distance relationships with other dealers,” O’Koniewski said. “It’s good to get everyone collectively there to achieve critical mass
for our visits on Capitol Hill.” It’s a big commitment on a dealer’s part to travel down to Washington for two or three days and be away from their stores, and O’Koniewski says he is very appreciative of the time dealers set aside to make the effort. “It comes down to our contingent of dealers who are carrying the Massachusetts flag down to Washington every year on behalf of the Massachusetts dealers up here.” Connolly, who has been down to Washington for this event four times, said it’s always a good idea to meet with representatives both at federal and state level. “We need to let everybody who represents us know what concerns us, what our thoughts are,” he said. “They have a lot of things to be mindful of, so if we’re not down there to bring things to their attention, they may go unnoticed by their office.” Another way dealers can be involved with their congressmen locally is to schedule a dealership visit. For example, Sen. Scott Brown, when he was in office, visited Minuteman Trucks in Walpole, and Rep. Mike Capuano has visited Ray Ciccolo’s dealership in Brighton. Dealers can use the walkthrough as an opportunity to show legislators how they service the community. “I always encourage dealers to be open to the concept of hosting a legislator,” O’Koniewski said. “It’s a great way of making an onsite connection without having to get on a plane.” These connections truly benefit auto dealers, he says. “Every member of the House that we deal with has been helpful to us on several different issues through the years in a pro-dealer way. We’ve been very lucky in that the delegation members have been very helpful to us on issues as they’ve come up over the years. It’s a true testament to the connections our dealers have made with their legislators through our Washington and dealership visits.”
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SEPTEMBER 2013
Massachusetts Auto Dealer www.msada.org