All Legislative and Political Updates

July is the last legislative hurrah before the August recess, when Congress heads back to their respective districts for a summer break. The House went into recess during the third week of July, while the Senate stayed until the end of month. During that time, I secured meetings with members from both chambers to advance ATDA member interests.

ATDA took several actions in June to strengthen our legislative position. First, President Dowell, Secretary Treasurer Sikes, and I made our way to Minneapolis to attend the 30th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention.

May was a critical month on the Hill in Washington D.C. The biggest piece of transportation legislation since the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act came before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

April brought a significant amount of legislative work. Most notably, H.R. 8410, also known as the Safe Tracks Act, was introduced by Congresswoman Laura Gillen of New York.

The month of March brought forward an incredible opportunity to finally meet with many of you in San Antonio, Texas. Our four-day training was an exciting time to hear from you all directly on the things affecting you in your daily work, and subsequently discuss what was going on at the federal level.

The month of February saw Congress truly begin to come back from the holidays and start their work again. As such, this month was a chance to have them hear from us directly once they were back in the nation’s capital.

January was an exciting month as I began my work as the new Director of Government Affairs with the American Train Dispatchers Association. It began immediately after the holidays when I made my way to headquarters in Cleveland, OH to be introduced to ATDA leadership and to discuss legislative strategy.