Conference Issues Briefing

1. Conference Issues Briefing April 14, 2011

2. On Today’s Webinar Bryan Welsh Webinar Moderator & Director of Membership Cindy Squires Chief Counsel for Public Affairs & Dir of Regulatory Affairs Jim Currie Legislative Director Jeff Gabriel Legislative Counsel

3. On Today’s Webinar • Introduction • Mandatory Life Jacket Wear • Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund • BATSA & Tax Reform • Ethanol • Q & A • Hill Visits 101

4. Conference Materials Download policy briefs and talking points online at: http://www.nmma.org/government/abc Hard copies of these documents will be available at registration. You will receive a copy to keep as well as extra copies to leave behind at your Hill visits.

5. Mandatory Life Jacket Wear PRESENTED BY Cindy Squires Chief Counsel for Public Affairs & Director of Regulatory Affairs

6. Boating is Safer Than Ever

7. Mandatory Life Jacket Wear • NMMA supports wear mandates for children (12 & under) to wear life jackets & for PWCs. • The best tool to prevent accidents is education, not mandatory wear regulations. • Army Corps of Engineers “study” of life jacket wear mandates at a small group of test lakes ends this year. The Corps can impose  new mandates without public comment. • Coast Guard’s advisory council (NBSAC) recommended a life jacket wear mandate for boaters on vessels less than 18 feet in length.

8. Mandatory Life Jacket Wear Ask Your Legislator • Tell the Coast Guard and the Army Corps to halt their efforts to mandate adult lifejacket wear until these federal agencies have conducted meaningful public engagement. • Make these agencies to conduct public meetings at boating events. • Public comment before imposing new rules is simply the right thing to do.

9. Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund PRESENTED BY Jeff Gabriel Legislative Counsel

10. Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund What is the SFRBTF? The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund (SFRBTF) provides funding for fisheries conservation in the U.S., and is a critical funding pool for a diverse set of important state and national recreational fishing and boating programs.

11. Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund How does the SFRBRF work? • SFRBTF receives its funding from an excise tax on fishing tackle and equipment as well as from the 18.3 cents per gallon federal tax on gasoline used in marine engines and other small engines • The SFRBTF amounts to approximately $650 million per year

12. SFRBTF Cycle of Success

13. SFRBTF Accomplishments (in 5 years) • Stocking of almost 4 billion fish • Development of 1000 public boating access sites • Nearly 2 million hours of on-water enforcement by the states

14. Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund Ask Your Legislator To support reauthorization of the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund as part of the surface transportation reauthorization bill

15. Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (BATSA) & Tax Reform PRESENTED BY Jeff Gabriel, Legislative Counsel

16. Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (BATSA) • State and local taxing officials have applied broad “economic nexus” standards to collect business activity taxes from businesses that are based in other states. • Rules are universally vague, complex, and differ on a state-by-state basis. • Creates enormous economic inefficiencies that hurt the economy and reduce job creation. • Vague state tax nexus laws have caused widespread and costly litigation.

17. Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (BATSA) Ask Your Legislator To pass the bipartisan Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (H.R. 1439), which modernizes state business tax laws by requiring that a business to have a physical presence in a state before that business can be subjected to a state's business activity tax.

18. Tax Reform • Reduce the corporate tax rate from 40% (federal and state rates combined) to help US businesses be more competitive with other developed countries. • Make permanent the R&D tax credit, which expires at the end of 2011. • Keep the investment income tax rate low.

19. Ethanol PRESENTED BY Jim Currie Legislative Director

20. Why Ethanol is Bad for Boats Marine and many other engines are not designed, calibrated, certified, or warranted to run on E15 and can cause: • Performance issues, such as drivability (i.e. starting, stalling, fuel vapor lock); • Increased water absorption and phase separation of gasoline and water while in tank; • Fuel tank corrosion, leading to oil/fuel leaks; • Increased emissions of smog-forming pollutants, such as Nox, because the ignition of E15 creates a higher temperature than straight gasoline or E10; • Damage to valves, push rods, rubber fuel lines and gaskets.

21. Ethanol Background • Growth Energy, a group representing ethanol producers, filed a waiver petition with the EPA in March 2009, asking the agency to allow the sale of E15. • In the fall of 2010, EPA granted a partial waiver allowing certain cars to use E15. EPA acknowledged that it did not have enough data to approve E15 for boats and thus, did not permit the use of E15 in marine applications. • However, EPA has no plans to implement any plans to prevent consumer confusion and misfueling in boats or other small engines.

22. Ethanol Legal Challenge • As a result, NMMA and others filed suit against EPA in Dec. 2010, noting that the partial waiver violates the Clean Air Act by: • Granting a partial waiver despite evidence that E15 will cause engine failure and emissions problems with boats and some cars • Not adopting any effective controls to either prevent misfueling or otherwise ensuring there will not be any emission-related failures resulting from misfueling • Not allowing public comment once the original comment period closed and new testing data became finalized • Failing to propose and seek comment on the flawed “misfueling mitigation” conditions on which it granted the partial waiver • NMMA has also filed a petition to ensure that marine compatible fuels (like E10) remain available once E15 is introduced in the marketplace

23. Ethanol Ask Your Legislator • To oppose any legislative efforts to accelerate E15’s introduction to the market without proper consumer education and misfueling controls • To support legislative efforts to mandate continued availability of E10 • To oppose any efforts to approve E15 for small engine and marine applications

24. Q & A MODERATED BY Bryan Welsh

25. Hill Visits 101 PRESENTED BY Jim Currie Legislative Director

26. Hill Visits 101 • Before you head to the Hill • Pack appropriately: business attire and good walking shoes • Do some light research on your Representative and Senators by visiting their websites and reading their press releases, committee assignments, etc. • You will receive your Hill schedule at the start of the conference when you register on site at ABC. • Keep an eye on your cell phone while in DC – if there are any last-minute changes, you will hear from NMMA staffer Laura Genovese.

27. Hill Visits 101 • Heading to Capitol Hill • Allow plenty of time to go through security and find the office(s) you will visit (make sure you don’t have items like pocketknives that may not clear security) • Bring business cards and your issues briefs to leave behind. • If you have requested an NMMA staff escort, your assigned staff member will coordinate with you after the luncheon.

28. Hill Visits 101 • During Your Visit • Be flexible: Due to fluid nature of Congressional activities, you may be asked to wait, meet with another staffer or meet in another location. • Tell the legislator or staffer: • What you manufacture, how much it contributes to our economy and how many people you employ. • How your business overcame challenges or contributed to the local community, if appropriate. • About your legislative issues (issue briefs). • At the end of your meeting, thank the Member of Congress and/or staffer for their time and previous support (if applicable). Invite them to the Congressional Boating Caucus Reception in Rayburn B338 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm that afternoon. • If you can, invite them to tour your facility during the August recess.

29. Hill Visits 101 • Things to Remember • Members of Congress love to meet with constituents: you are the folks who voted them into office. • Members of Congress depend on their staffs, who often do the legwork on issues and draft legislation. Meeting with a staff member can be as or more effective than meeting with the Member. • Be sure to collect business cards from everyone you meet in order to follow up after you return home.

30. Hill Visits 101 • After Your Hill visit • Follow up with a thank-you email • Include any additional information they requested, a brief overview of your “ask” and a reminder that you will follow up later in the summer about an August facility tour • In July, follow up with another email inviting your Member of Congress and their staff on a facility tour • Contact NMMA if you need help organizing a Congressional visit

31. Boating Caucus Reception After your Hill visits, please join us and Members of Congress and their staff at the Congressional Boating Caucus Reception! 5:00 – 7:00 PM Rayburn B-338

32. Thank you for participating in the 2011 American Boating Congress! Save the Date for ABC 2012: April 23-24 at the Liaison Capitol Hill