FUELIowa Meets With Congressional Delegation

By John Maynes, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs, FUELIowa, Attorney

and concluding with Congressman Zach Nunn at 4 pm. FUELIowa is fortunate to have a Congressional Delegation willing and eager to meet with FUELIowa during a tight visit window. As you can imagine, coordinating schedules and securing six meetings while managing the demands placed on members of Congress can be a bit of a balancing act. Fortunately, we were able to complete the task.

Every year during the spring, the Energy Marketers of America (EMA) host their annual fly-in event for the 47 state and regional trade associations comprising EMA’s membership. This year’s event was held May 10-12 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.

EMA’s Day on the Hill Event includes association policy meetings on the first and final days of the event. In between, individual state associations are tasked with setting up meetings with their Congressional Delegation to advocate on issues impacting the small businesses fuel marketers who comprise their membership. With guidance and support from EMA, these meetings prove to be a valuable tool in educating federal lawmakers on issues impacting the hundreds of FUELIowa small business owners who provide the essential everyday goods and services Iowan’s demand from their business.

This year’s FUELIowa schedule included visits with all six members of Iowa’s Congressional Delegation beginning with Congresswoman Marianette Miller-Meeks at 9:45 am issued by the largest U.S. banks have at least two unaffiliated card payment networks available to process transactions. Ten years ago, Congress enacted similar legislation targeting debit card transactions and through the competition created, both business and consumers have benefited. FUELIowa and the members of the Merchants Payment Coalition believe The Credit Card Competition Act will have a similarly positive impact on businesses and consumers through the introduction of competition into the credit card processing arena.

Joining FUELIowa for EMA’s Day on the Hill this year were Glenn Hasken with Molo Petroleum, Don Burd with Otter Creek Country Stores, and Joe Zietlow, current FUELIowa Board Chairman and Industry and Trade Association Manager for Kwik Trip, Inc. Participation in EMA’s Day on the Hill with FUELIowa is open to all members and we encourage you to attend. Please reach out to John Maynes in the FUELIowa office with interest. Ideally, we’d love to have a member from each Congressional District attend the EMA Day on the Hill.

Individual visits last between 15-30 minutes so preparation is key to maximizing time with our Senators and Representatives. During our visits this year, FUELIowa focused our discussions on a costly proposed rule facing FUELIowa members who operate bulk fuel facilities where gasoline is stored. During our visits, we were able to secure commitments from all six members of Congress to sign a bicameral letter requesting EPA to reanalyze the impact of their proposed rule on small businesses.

Biofuel policy, specifically biofuel infrastructure investment opportunities for small business fuel marketers was another key advocacy topic for FUELIowa. FUELIowa was able to highlight the growing inequity between biofuel policy directed at creating markets from policy tailored toward assisting the small business fuel marketers who distribute and sell biofuels.

Building on the momentum gained through the United States Department of Agriculture and their High Blend Infrastructure Investment Program, FUELIowa advocated for increasing the appropriation to the program while simultaneously expanding access to the funds for small businesses through targeted small business carveouts and expanded opportunities for grant writing assistance.

Our final advocacy topic was the Credit Card Competition Act. The Credit Card Competition Act would require that credit cards

While the Congressional visits are the center piece of EMA’s Day on the Hill, EMA also conducts a series of internal policy meetings which shape the forward-facing positions EMA staff take in their day-today advocacy with regulators, lawmakers, and other industryrelated national trade associations.

On Wednesday, FUELIowa participated in a meeting with counsel from the Small Business Administration to discuss industry’s options in reengaging the EPA on certain aspects of their rule targeting gasoline bulk plants. Also included in the meeting were marketers and staff from Minnesota and North Dakota along with EMA Regulatory Counsel Mark Morgan, and EMA consultant Jim Rocco.

Following the conclusion of our meeting with SBA, FUELIowa joined the Central Region within EMA for a meeting highlighting the scope of issues facing the states comprising EMA’s Central Region. Covering a geographic area ranging from Nebraska to Ohio and Oklahoma to Michigan, the range of issues facing central region states was significant. This think-tank type setting is extremely valuable for attendees to gain information from their peers in other states. A good rule of thumb to live by in advocacy is if a bad idea emerges in another state, be prepared, soon it will find its way across your border.

Fast-forwarding to Friday, EMA holds a series of committee meetings to develop internal policy positions and priorities. EMA’s two most relevant policy committee meetings for FUELIowa members include the Retail Committee and the Motor Fuels Committee. FUELIowa is very fortunate longtime FUELIowa EMA Director Glenn Hasken currently serves as the Chairman of EMA’s Motor Fuels Committee. Through Glenn’s decade long service within EMA on behalf of FUELIowa, FUELIowa has a well-positioned voice within the policy development wing of the EMA umbrella.