NSSEA Members Invited to Capitol Hill Event

The NSSEA Legislative Committee cordially invites you be our guest at the annual Capitol Hill Breakfast to be held on Wednesday, June 4, 2008, from 7:00 am to 12 noon in conjunction with the 2008 Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) Summit in Washington DC. Featuring several members of Congress and their staff, this unique event will brief education publishing professionals on the issues affecting the future of their industry in this important election year. Participants will then have the opportunity to meet one on one with their local legislators to privately and openly discuss specific issues of concern. AEP will arrange meetings with specific legislators where possible. Breakfast will be provided and a private shuttle will be available for Summit attendees staying at the JW Marriott to the Hill that morning. To register for this event, contact Adrienne Dayton at awatts@nssea.org.

Legislative Activities

NSSEA monitors and communicates to the membership government policies, legislative/regulatory issues, and funding opportunities that impact the education marketplace and test member desire for advocacy. The role of the Legislative Committee is to define the activities and objectives of the Association’s efforts regarding legislative affairs by:

• Building alliances with complementary organizations that are able to represent the needs of our diverse membership.
• Serving as a conduit to identify/assess legislative issues to determine whether there is a commercial impact on NSSEA members or if it is potentially detrimental to the dealer channel.
• Being a source for research initiatives that affect the marketplace.
• Increasing the networking and knowledge base of the legislative process in order to influence outcomes.

Current Programs/Programs: In our pursuit of alliances with organizations that have common interests, the Executive Committee approved a recommendation to enter into a formal government relations partnership with The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). The AEP Government Relations initiative is designed to add legislative and public policy issues directly impacting the supplemental publishing industry. AEP’s effort is led by a full time government relations director and includes targeted public policy consultants in Washington DC, and alliances with other strategic partners.

As a Partner in the AEP government relations effort NSSEA and its members receive:

• Access to the AEP Government Relations Plan
• Ongoing Legislative tracking and updates through AEP online
• Member access to the legislative section of AEP website as well as web briefings, position papers and marketing materials
• Research on issues of concern such as the SBR requirement
• Participation in ongoing Government Relations Committee meetings
• An active role in the development of public policy positions
• Developing relationships with policymakers, legislators and/or Department of Education officials
• Sign-on opportunities for letters an other activities that will increase the visibility of participating organizations
  Sponsorship of Legislative Day held in conjunction with the AEP Summit in Washington, DC in June 2007.

In addition, NSSEA works in partnership with the National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors’ (NAW) legislative affairs group.