Show Your Worth

When I went out on my own, I really didn’t want to lobby. I was good at it, but it had gotten stale and politics isn’t as fun as it once was.

But I also had bills to pay and Taylor Swift tickets aren’t getting any cheaper.

So a few of my clients are lobbying clients.

It turns out, not only am I still good at it, doing it on my terms is MUCH better. I didn’t have to be lurking in the halls every day. I leveraged my relationships to help numerous legislators and clients advance some really great things!

Rural Emergency Hospitals

Martin County hired me to have legislation passed that would license hospitals as Rural Emergency Hospitals. This is a new federal designation designed to right rural hospitals so that residents in those communities could keep access to the lifesaving services they need. This provision was passed this week thanks to the hard work of Sen. Bobby Hanig working with us to pass it!

I may not be “The hospital guy” anymore, but I will always work to ensure every North Carolinian has access to care close to home.

Certificate of Need

Radiology Oncologists are a niche profession of cancer killing super heros who use linear accelerators in their killing of cancer. Every year there is an attempt to de-regulate these really expensive and highly complex machines; machines that nobody but non-physician venture capitalists want de-regulated.

While legislation was passed earlier this session that had repeal of the regulation, we were able to keep it from becoming law.

The Butterflies

The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science is a stellar place that our kids love. They have the regions largest butterfly house that supports pollinator research and conservation. It is also just a really beautiful place that draws thousands of tourists into Durham. We were able to secure them $1,000,000 to renovate and update the butterfly house.

All in all this was a great session and I am proud of the work I did my first session out.

The Takeaway:

I have 20 years of advocacy experience coupled with my work as General Counsel. My clients don’t pay for one or the other, they get the entire package, and we strive for every year to be as successful as this one.

On to IAAPA!

My IAAPA Expo booth came in this week, and I am really pumped about it. IAAPA is the global association for the attractions industry. Everyone from the local bowling alley and city museum to Walt Disney World are members of IAAPA and I am one of the few lawyers in the gang. I will be in Orlando from November 12-17 for the show. Hit me up if you want to join. I have a few guest passes left.

With over 60,000 in attendance, this is a prime opportunity to discuss the importance of crisis planning in an industry with safety as the top priority.