The PHCC, ACCA, HARDI and the ASA are holding a legislative “fly in” to learn how to effectively lobby members of Congress on the needs of the HVAC industry.

Four industry associations are teaming up to meet with lawmakers next month in  Washington, D.C.

The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, the Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International and the American Supply Association are holding a legislative “fly in” to learn how to effectively lobby members of Congress on the needs of the HVAC industry.

The event will be held April 29-30 in the Washington suburb of Rosslyn, Va. Attendees will be briefed on industry issues and hear from Bill Kristol, a Fox News commentator and Weekly Standard editor, before heading to the nation’s capital to meet with senators and representatives.

The ACCA’s new chairman, Stan Johnson, said the Democratic Congress and Barack Obama administration are expected to move on legislation affecting many aspects of members’ businesses and HVAC equipment regulations.

”Over the next few years legislation is going to be passed and regulations are going to be written that will profoundly impact your ability to operate profitably," Johnson said at the group’s recent convention in Fort Worth, Texas. "I didn't say may be passed; I said passed. And once legislation gets passed it's hard to get it un-passed.

"Now we can throw in the towel and say we don't care about Washington and let Congress do what it wants. Or we can fight every step of the way to represent contractor interests and try to shape the legislation so that it helps all of us, or at the very least, so that it doesn't impact our industry and small businesses as much as it could,” he said.

The groups have held similar joint lobbying events in the past.

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