SAF Chairperson Chris Drummond, AAF, PFCI (on right) gives a speech at last year’s SAFPAC Party. This year, the party will feature a talent show. Attendees will vote with their wallets for their favorite act, with all of the money going to SAFPAC.
SAF’s got talent — and it’s being put to work for SAFPAC.
As part of the evening’s entertainment at the SAFPAC Party during SAF Orlando 2022, individuals will showcase their talent, and SAFPAC Party attendees will vote with their wallets for their favorites. The “talent” that garners the most money will be deemed the winner — with all of the money raised going to SAFPAC.
SAFPAC is the only national political action committee dedicated to advocating for the floral industry — and 100 percent of the cost of each ticket for the event, along with money raised during the talent competition, will be used to help elect floriculture-friendly members of Congress.
SAF focuses its contributions on members of Congress who influence the industry’s top legislative and regulatory priorities. In recent years, SAF has contributed to members of the House and Senate Agricultural Appropriations committees because of their role determining floriculture research funding — and in this budget cycle, both the House and Senate recommended significant funding increases for the Floriculture Nursery & Research Initiative. Members of the Ways and Means Committee are also key targets, given the committee’s jurisdiction over issues related to trade, taxes and GSP.
“We need to ensure that SAF’s voice is heard on Capitol Hill, and SAFPAC is a great tool for the industry’s political engagement,” says SAF Senior Lobbyist Joe Bischoff.
In the coming year, SAF will work to ensure the floriculture research funding increases become law, minimize the potential impact of tax change proposals on small business, advocate for retroactive reinstatement of GSP and work with the USDA to maintain access to essential crop protections amidst changing pesticide regulations.
Want to learn more about SAFPAC and the SAFPAC Party in Orlando? The first step is signing a prior approval form online by logging ontosafnow.tempurl.host with your user name and password. This allows SAF to communicate with you about what SAFPAC is doing and alert you to future SAFPAC events. This permission is required by law. Questions? Contact Katie Butler.
Katie Butler is the senior vice president of the Society of American Florists.
