Putting together ARSA’s Annual Conference – which brings members of the maintenance community to the U.S. capital city each March – means meshing new activities like a full day of “Executive to Executive Briefings” with the standard “tent poles” of an effective D.C. event.
Chief among these must-haves is the grassroots engagement of Legislative Day. Along with informational briefings, constituent meetings, and the release of ARSA’s annual market assessment performed by Oliver Wyman CAVOK, the celebration of the association’s legislative leadership award is an ingrained part of the annual “fly-in.” Given each year to a member of Congress whose work demonstrates clear commitment to the values and needs of the maintenance community, the award allows the industry to recognize its greatest champions on Capitol Hill.
This year, ARSA and its Legislative Day attendees recognized not one, but two members of Congress – U.S. Representatives Sam Graves (R-MO) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) – for addressing the chronic shortage of technicians threatening to undermine the growth and vitality of America’s aerospace sector.
How did they earn this honor? Last year, Graves and Lipinski were lead sponsors of H.R. 5701, which created a new federal grant program to help recruit and educate aviation technicians. The legislation was ultimately enacted as Sec. 625 in the FAA reauthorization law signed by President Trump in October 2018. The pair represents the second and third members of Congress recognized for championing the cause of AMT skill development; Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) was honored by ARSA last year for his own leadership in introducing the grant program legislation on the Senate side.
Adding a second name to the award (Reps. Graves and Lipinski each got their own version of ARSA’s sought-after “Altimeter Clock”) is a novel idea. What made the joint honorees’ story worthy of attention was the bipartisan nature of the recognition. HAECO Americas’ David Latimer, who presented the award in his capacity as ARSA’s 2019 president, stated in his remarks that the legislation behind the grant program demonstrates how good people collaborate regardless of party affiliation and despite any evidence of ideological difference – a fact ARSA’s team observed in building its industrywide coalition supporting the grant program:
“Those of us who don’t live and work in D.C. hear a lot about the acrimonious atmosphere on Capitol Hill,” Latimer said. “Whichever news you watch, you’d be forgiven for thinking Democrats and Republicans never speak to each other and are too busy throwing slings and arrows across the aisle to work together. Our two honorees are evidence that this simply isn’t true.”
For their part, Graves and Lipinski echoed this sentiment. Though a party’s leadership may utilize messaging to highlight the intractability of differences, the “rank and file” membership in Congress is focused on getting things done. Across regional, ideological, and party boundaries, the vast majority of our elected officials are using any connections possible to produce results for their constituents.
As representatives of the aviation maintenance community, our own constituency is broad. It includes repair stations, manufacturers, operators, suppliers, and the host of businesses supporting the industry, not to mention hundreds of thousands of technicians worldwide and the public at large (even those who don’t fly are surely benefiting from commerce supported by aircraft). To serve their interests, we must be the “rank and file” willing to work with anyone invested in our needs.
In pursuit of ways to address the technician shortage, which ARSA members have identified as one of the top strategic challenges facing the aviation maintenance industry, the association has built broad coalitions. Just as Graves and Lipinski’s grant program is designed to facilitate collaboration among businesses, labor organizations, schools, and government, ARSA has found allies in government and industry, with management and labor, and across the aviation world.
The work of that group continues with a concerted effort to get funding for both the maintenance and pilot versions of the grant program. In a recent letter to Transportation Secretary Elain Chao and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, 40 aviation organizations called on the administration to request full funding for the technician program and a related a pilot education program in the president’s proposed FY 2020 budget.
Whether you were with ARSA on Legislative Day or not, everyone must continue Graves and Lipinski’s – and many others’ – good work. To learn more about how, visit arsa.org/grant-program for updates and access to the Workforce Legislative Action Center (which provides instruction and templates for engaging Congress).
No matter what you believe about the functionality of Washington, the truth is there are plenty of people working together to help improve the maintenance industry today and grow it for the future. It’s time to get to work with them – to add to the effectiveness of the rank and file.
See everything that happened during the week of ARSA’s Annual Conference at arsa.org/conference.
References:
Senate Cosponsors of S. 2506 that remain in 116th Congress:
Blumenthal, Richard (D-CT)*
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA)*
Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV)
Cortez Masto, Catherine (D-NV)
Duckworth, Tammy (D-IL)
Hassan, Margaret Wood (D-NH)
Hoeven, John (R-ND)
Inhofe, James (R-OK)*
Jones, Doug (D-AL)
King, Angus S., Jr. (I-ME)
Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN)
Moran, Jerry (R-KS)*
Peters, Gary C. (D-MI)
Portman, Rob (R-OH)
Roberts, Pat (R-KS)
Rounds, Mike (R-SD)
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
Sullivan, Dan (R-AK)
Udall, Tom (D-NM)
Van Hollen, Chris (D-MD)
Wicker, Roger F. (R-MS)
Young, Todd C. (R-IN)
* = original cosponsor
House Cosponsors of H.R. 5701 that remain in 116th Congress:
Bilirakis, Gus M. (R-FL-12)
Brownley, Julia (D-CA-26)
Budd, Ted (R-NC-13)
Bustos, Cheri (D-IL-17)
Cartwright, Matt (D-PA-17)
Correa, J. Luis (D-CA-46)
DeLauro, Rosa L. (D-CT-3)
Graves, Sam (R-MO-6)
Hill, J. French (R-AR-2)
Himes, James A. (D-CT-4)
Joyce, David P. (R-OH-14)
Larsen, Rick (D-WA-2)
Lawrence, Brenda L. (D-MI-14)*
Lieu, Ted (D-CA-33)
Lipinski, Daniel (D-IL-3)*
Marshall, Roger W. (R-KS-1)
Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK-2)*
Peterson, Collin C. (D-MN-7)
Pingree, Chellie (D-ME-1)
* = original cosponsor
Brett Levanto is vice president of operations of Obadal, Filler, MacLeod & Klein, P.L.C. managing firm and client communications in conjunction with regulatory and legislative policy initiatives. He provides strategic and logistical support for the Aeronautical Repair Station Association.
