Just before Thanksgiving, one mid-Atlantic flower shop made sure a freshman U.S. congressman had a beautiful floral centerpiece for his holiday table — and a whole lot of information on an important floral industry issue.
On Nov. 23, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), center, spent about 30 minutes visiting Flowers By Addalia in Toms River, New Jersey. From left: Tom Addalia, Skip Paal,AAF, Linda Leonard, Tony Rullis, Kim Currie, Kathy Steinbaugh, Sharon Zaccagna and Gerald Hakim.before Thanksgiving, one mid-Atlantic flower shop made sure a freshman U.S. congressman had a beautiful floral centerpiece for his holiday table — and a whole lot of information on an important floral industry issue.
On Nov. 23, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) spent about 30 minutes visiting Flowers By Addalia in Toms River, New Jersey. MacArthur and Noriko Kowalewski, the congressman’s director of constituent services, toured the shop and talked about a number of small business-related issues, according to Skip Paal, AAF, president of Rutland Beard Floral Group, which owns the shop.
One of the topics they touched on: The “Simplifying Technical Aspects Regarding Seasonality (STARS) Act” or STARS Act, which would provide targeted fixes to the Affordable Care Act, clarifying language and making it easier for business owners to comply with the law.
Paal, a veteran attendee of SAF’s Congressional Action Days, wasted no time in following up on the conversation, emailing supporting documents (created by SAF) that explain the act and asking the congressman, who took office in January 2015, to consider becoming a co-sponsor.
“This short and to-the-point ACA fix will have tremendous implications to the constituents within the district, both through the direct impacts on New Jersey agriculture, among other industries, as well as the trickle down throughout our entire industry,” Paal wrote.
Kowalewski responded the next day: “When I got into my office this morning, I sent in the co-sponsor request to our DC staff who handles this issue. I will pass along the additional information and will keep you informed as I hear anything from them.”
This isn’t the first time SAF members have pushed lawmakers to act on STARS. In April, Jo Buttram, AAF, AMF, PCF, and her daughter, Shelby Shy, AAF, took up the issue with Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) when he visited them at Shirley’s Flowers & Gifts in Rogers, Arkansas.
For Buttram, Shy and Paal, building relationships with lawmakers has become a long-term, and year-round, effort. In the case of MacArthur’s visit, one of Paal’s employees knew someone in the congressman’s office.
“They got the contact rolling,” Paal explained, adding that his outreach efforts aren’t over. “We will surely be visiting him in March,” during Congressional Action Days.
Even before the positive follow-up, Paal had a good feeling about the visit. Along with ACA challenges, “we talked about the area and his history,” Paal said. “He was in the insurance business for a number of years and can relate to many of the issues that small business owners encounter.”
Before MacArthur left, the congressman bought his Thanksgiving centerpiece, which the staff had specially created for him during the visit.
Want to be part of the effort to keep floral industry issues front and center with Congress? SAF’s 2016 Congressional Action Day is March 14-15 in Washington, D.C. Register today.
