Update: This Week in Congress
Negotiating the last bills of the 118th Congress
Priorities for the Final Session
Discussions continue on must-pass end of year legislation. Looks like Congress will kick the final appropriations for FY25 to March but no final decision yet. No decision yet on whether there will be a public lands bill. We do know that the AGRITOURISM Act will not make it over the finish line this year. This is disappointing news as the prime champion for this legislation, Rep. Jennifer Weston (D-VA) is leaving Congress due to health issues. However, her Legislative Director, Chris Katson, will be serving in the same capacity with her successor, Suhas Subramanyam, who has agreed to re-introduce the legislation in the 119th Congress
Disaster Funding Supplemental: Outreach to offices stressing the importance that the public lands be included in the disaster funding supplemental is needed. When you reach out to your Congressional representatives encourage them to let leadership (House Minority Leader Hakim Jefferies (D-NY), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch Connell (R-KY) know funding for parks and public lands must be included.
The current Disaster Funding Supplement bill stands at $115 billion that includes public land needs ($10+ billion). This may be more detail than you need but I am including a breakdown of all the disaster funding in the bill at the end of this post. In addition, I have attached the letter from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Senator Thom Tills (R-NC) pushing for public lands to be included and the coalition letter as background.
Here is the list of damages in parks since 2023 disaster funding supplemental:
• In Washington, a popular day lodge in Olympic National Park burned to the ground.
• In California, landslides, mudslides and heavy snowfall in Yosemite, Sequoia Kings Canyon, Channel Islands and other California NPS units.
• Historic properties in Hawaii damaged by the Maui wildfire and in need of NPS Historic Preservation Fund dollars.
• In Maine, back-to-back storms in January destroyed park infrastructure at Acadia National Park.
• In Texas, spring storms caused flooding and mudslides in Big Thicket National Preserve.
• In Texas, the Windy Deuce Fire caused extensive, costly burn damage to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument and Lake Meredith National Recreation Area.
• In Texas, July’s Hurricane Beryl caused flood damage to Big Thicket National Preserve.
• In Oklahoma, a May tornado damaged Chickasaw National Recreation Area.
• In New Mexico, September flash flooding impacted Bandelier National Monument.
• In South Carolina, Congaree National Park, Cowpens National Battlefield, Kings Mountain National Military Park and Ninety Six National Historic Site were harmed.
• In North Carolina and Virginia, $1.7 billion in extensive damage to roads, tunnels and other infrastructure and tens of thousands of downed trees at Blue Ridge Parkway, the most visited NPS unit and a huge economic driver.
• Extensive damage from thousands of downed trees to trails and other natural and man-made infrastructure at the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in several states and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee.
• In North Carolina, damage to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site.
• In Tennessee, the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site was damaged.
• In Tennessee/Kentucky/Virginia, impacts to parts of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.
• In Florida, damage to infrastructure at Fort Matanzas National Monument; closures at Desoto National Memorial and Gulf Islands National Seashore, and impacts to Canaveral National Seashore.
• In Georgia, damage and closures at Fort Pulaski National Monument and Fort Frederica National Monument.
If you have experienced impacts in your community, please send me the details so I can get it included.
All Members of Congress need hear that this funding bill is important but there are a some key targets:
Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL)
Rep. Bob Aderholt (R-AL)
Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR)
Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR)
Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL)
Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL)
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)
Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY)
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA)
Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS)
Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC)
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN)
Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN)
Call to Action: Welcome to the Advocacy Amplified Newsletter
This is the first Advocacy Amplified newsletter. I’ve been looking for a way to keep this community of tourism advocates engaged and activated. I wanted a platform that provides a more polished look than my personal email system and I appreciate having a process for subscribing and unsubscribing. I hope that Substack is a platform that will work for all of us.
Subscriptions are $120 a year ($10 a month). I hope that you will share this newsletter with your network and encourage them to join. The focus is on tourism leaders but I define that broadly to include National Heritage Areas, Friends groups, gateway communities, Main Streets, and any organization that is working to tell the story of their community and drive exceptional travel experiences.
The next couple years are going to see some big challenges: the Trump Administration’s goal of re-thinking government programs. As well as some big opportunities: America’s 250th Birthday. My aim is to ensure that tourism advocates are engaged and well informed on the issues that matter to their communities.
Please know that I remain available to answer questions and troubleshoot issues. I am also keeping the network on an excel sheet to I can reach out by state if necessary.
I hope you will consider subscribing today.