The National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds provided its state affiliates and members with actionable intelligence on 248 proposals for new state legislation and regulatory changes during the first quarter of this year.
ARVC also provided its affiliates and members with 92 Senate and House committee hearing notices on specific legislation and regulations to its members, providing them the opportunity to attend or provide testimony at the hearings.
“There are eight states currently with legislation regarding park model RVs that ARVC is monitoring,” said Jeff Sims, ARVC’s director of state relations and program advocacy.
“Minimum wage and employment issues seem to continue to be the front runners along with a variety of tax issues,” he said. “We are seeing minimum wage proposals all over the board for 2017. From a Louisiana proposed bill to maintain $7.25 per hour in 2017 to a proposed bill in New Jersey for five counties which would increase the minimum wage to $20 per hour beginning in January 2017 for five years.”
ARVC reviewed 4,444 legislative and regulatory proposals during the first three months of this year. In 2015, the association reviewed nearly 10,000 legislative and regulatory proposals.
All of this information is available to association members in ARVC’s Legislative & Regulatory Monitoring Report, which can be viewed on ARVC.org in the Document Library under the Public Affairs heading. The report lists the specific state bills or regulations, a brief description, current status, as well as any scheduled hearing notices. The report is continuously updated Tuesday through Saturday.
Sims noted that legislative monitoring is only one aspect of the association’s government affairs work. He said the ARVC Public Affairs Committee will meet Wednesday, April 6, in Denver to finalize comments to be submitted to HUD’s Proposed Rule for park model RVs that redefines the RV exemption from manufactured housing standards.
“The fundamental difference between manufactured housing and RVs was, is and always will be their design intent,” Sims said, adding, “RVs are designed for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use. Manufactured homes are designed to be permanent dwellings. The laws and regulations governing the use of RVs are set at the state and especially at the local municipal and county levels, not by HUD. So the new rule does not affect full-time recreational RVing in any way.”
The ARVC Public Affairs Committee will also develop a “key issues leave behind paper” for members of Congress as the committee members prepare to join the RV Industry Association’s Advocacy Day on the “Hill” on June 8.
ARVC’s Public Affairs Committee includes Chairman Al Johnson, OHC, of Mt. Rushmore/Hill City KOA in Hill City, S.D.; Saundra Bryn, CPO, OHC, of Desert's Edge RV - The Purple Park in Phoenix, Ariz.; Mari Garland, OHC, of Junction West RV Park in Grand Junction, Colo.; Daniel Wright, CPO, OHC, of The Springs at Borrego in Borrego Springs, Calif; and Jeff Sims, CPO, OHC, ARVC’s director of state relations and program advocacy.