Legislative Update: Meetings Continue with Members of Congress

Executive DirectorIndustry Advocacy & News3 Comments

(L to R) Feleciai Favroth, Marie Gale, Russ Carnahan (MO-3), HSMG President Leigh O'Donnell, Debbie May

Continuing our efforts to reach out to Members of the 112th Congress, I traveled to Washington, DC during the week of March 7th with several of my colleagues.  Over two days, we met with 16 Congressional Offices and 2 Senate Offices representing states across the country.

Accompanied by Marie Gale (HSMG Past-President), Feleciai Favroth (HSMG Board Member) and Debbie May (Wholesale Supplies Plus), we met with these offices to make them aware of our industry, discuss the impact the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (HR 5786) would have had and to build relationships.  This is part of our strategic plan to avoid becoming inadvertent collateral damage in any federal legislation.

I am very encouraged by both this round of meetings and our meetings in February.  For the most part everyone we have met with has been very receptive to our message and eager to learn about our industry and our trade.  Accompanied by our DC Advocacy Team of Mary Anne Walsh and Rick Limardo, we were able to deliver a very clear and compelling message.  We left them with samples of handcrafted soap from members of the HSMG, which was an excellent conversational piece and also educated them on the types of products we were discussing.

As we move forward in our Advocacy Plan, we will continue to work with our DC Advocates and stay vigilant to any changes in Washington.  We still do expect a new version of The Safe Cosmetics Act to be released sometime later this year by Rep. Schakowsky (IL).  Now more than ever we need your support through donations to our Legislative Advocacy Fund and/or by joining the HSMG.  The more members we have the louder and stronger our voice becomes.

We are also pleased to announce that our DC Advocates Mary Anne Walsh and Rick Limardo will be joining us at our Annual Conference in Miami, Florida, May 18-20 at the Hilton Miami Downtown.  They will address the attendees of the conference on May 18th and be available for questions and discussion throughout the event.  If you are attending the conference this will be a great opportunity to find out how this process works and get the answers to some of your burning questions about the legislative process.  For information on how to register for the conference visit our conference pages here.

If you would like to stay informed about what is happening with Cosmetics Legislation, you can visit our legislative advocacy pages, follow our blog and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sincerely,

Leigh O’Donnell

HSMG President

3 Comments on “Legislative Update: Meetings Continue with Members of Congress”

  1. Again you have done a sterling job of speaking up for our industry and protecting the livelihood of countless handcrafted soapmakers! Thanks Leigh, Feleciai, Marie and Debbie!! It will be exciting to hear firsthand from our DC Advocates during the course of our upcoming HSMG Conference.

  2. Thanks to all for all the work on our behalf. Like dM, looking forward to seeing everyone in May.

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