Members of OHI (formerly National ARVC) leadership and campground owners wrapped up an important visit to Washington last week advocating on issues important to RV parks and campgrounds, the organization said in a release, meeting with more than 30 key members of Congress and strategizing with other associations that share similar goals.
The meetings with Congressional offices were focused primarily on legislation that would lower taxes and fees levied on small businesses, including the Credit Card Competition Act, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act and the Death Tax Repeal Act. In addition, the OHI public affairs team is working closely with North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd’s office to draft and introduce legislation that would provide a 90-day cure period to allow small businesses to remedy website-based Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance issues before a lawsuit could be filed.
“OHI did a great job of strategically putting us in front of the Senate offices most important to these pieces of legislation, giving us the freedom to tell our stories as campground owners,” said Mike Gurevich, owner of Cherry Hill Park Campground in College Park, Maryland. “The experience was so rewarding for me and valuable to my business and our entire industry.”
OHI met with the following senate offices while in Washington:
- Sen. Baldwin (Wisconsin)
- Sen. Booker (New Jersey)
- Sen. Braun (Indiana)
- Sen. Britt (Alabama)
- Sen. Brown (Ohio)
- Sen. Budd (North Carolina)
- (NOTE: Sen. Budd is the sponsor of the ADA website compliance legislation. The OHI team had a one-hour strategy session with the senator’s lead on this legislation.)
- Sen. Casey (Pennsylvania)
- Sen. Cassidy (Tennessee)
- Sen. Collins (Maine)
- Sen. Cornyn (Texas)
- Sen. Cortez Masto (Nevada)
- Sen. Daines (Montana)
- (NOTE: Sen. Daines is the sponsor of the Main Street Tax Certainty Act. The OHI team had a one-hour strategy session with the senator’s lead on this legislation.)
- Sen. Durbin (Illinois)
- (NOTE: Sen. Durbin is the sponsor of the Credit Card Competition Act. The OHI team had a one-hour strategy session with the senator’s leads on this legislation.)
- Sen. Ernst (Iowa)
- Sen. Gillibrand (New York)
- Sen. Graham (South Carolina)
- Sen. Grassley (Iowa)
- Sen. Johnson (Wisconsin)
- Sen. Kaine (Virginia)
- Sen. Kelly (Arizona)
- (NOTE: The OHI team met with both the senator and his staff on all the issues important to RV parks and campgrounds.)
- Sen. King (Maine)
- Sen. Lujan (New Mexico)
- Sen. Marshall (Kansas)
- (NOTE: Sen. Marshall is a co-sponsor of the Credit Card Competition Act. The OHI team had a one-hour strategy session with the senator’s lead on this legislation.)
- Sen. Markey (Masschusetts)
- Sen. Mullin (Oklahoma)
- Sen. Ricketts (Nebraska)
- Sen. Scott (Florida)
- Sen. Shaheen (New Hampshire)
- Sen. Tillis (North Carolina)
- Sen. Van Hollen (Maryland)
- Sen. Warnock (Georgia)
- (NOTE: The OHI team met with both the senator and his staff on all the issues important to RV parks and campgrounds.)
- Sen. Warren (Massachusetts)
- Sen. Wicker (Mississippi)
- Sen. Young (Indiana)
- (NOTE: The OHI team met with both the senator and his staff on all the issues important to RV parks and campgrounds.)
In addition to meeting with the above Senate offices, OHI also met with other associations and organizations based in Washington that share OHI’s values and objectives, including the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), a group of more than 20 associations in the retail, restaurant and hotel industry united specifically on the passage of the Credit Card Competition Act. OHI joined the MPC earlier this year for a stronger voice on this important issue.
The average RV park and campground in the United States is paying thousands of dollars each month in credit card swipe fees — accumulated every time a camper uses a credit card to reserve a campsite online or in person, or purchases goods at the camp store. The Credit Card Competition Act would break up the stranglehold Visa and Mastercard have on creating these fees, the organization said, which will increase competition and lower fees for businesses like RV parks and campgrounds that run credit-card transactions.
Other current legislation OHI is focused on at the federal level for the benefit of its members are the Main Street Tax Certainty Act and the Death Tax Repeal Act.
The Main Street Tax Certainty Act would make permanent the 20% tax deduction for qualified business income. (Under current law, the deduction expires after December 31, 2025.) The qualified business income deduction has been an important part of the success of RV parks, campgrounds and other outdoor hospitality businesses of all sizes across the country.
Small, independently owned RV parks and campgrounds are often “asset rich and cash poor,” so when a family member passes away, the family is forced to sell off family assets to pay the estate taxes. The Death Tax Repeal Act would repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, providing stability and peace of mind to small, family-owned businesses.
OHI monitors legislation that would impact RV parks and campgrounds at the national, state and local levels on a daily basis and members can follow important legislation and get involved by visiting OHI’s Advocacy Center.
“As advocates for the entire outdoor hospitality industry, staying abreast of policy and legal changes at all levels is integral to OHI’s mission of propelling the industry forward,” said Jeff Sims, OHI’s senior director of program advocacy.
OHI was represented in Washington by the following industry leaders:
- David Basler, OHI chief strategy officer
- Mike Gurevich, owner of Cherry Hill Park, in College Park, Maryland
- Ali Rasmussen, OHI board of directors member and founder, CEO and creative director of Spacious Skies Campgrounds, which owns 15 campgrounds in 10 states
- Matt Rose, executive director of the Indiana Campground Owners Association
In addition to the block of meetings in June, OHI representatives also attended events during RVs Move America Week, an annual RV industry advocacy event hosted by the RV Industry Association.
