AQHA Members visit Capitol Hill, Form Q-Contacts

AQHA's Public Policy Committee's vision of a grassroots lobbying group made up of knowledgeable and passionate AQHA members became a reality February 10-12 in Washington, D.C.

The pilot program, which is known as Q-Contact, was created to develop a "key contact" system to enable AQHA to expand its efforts in national public policy work with a functional "grassroots or grass tops" type program. Key contact advocacy is based on select industry leaders developing a strong working relationship with lawmakers and their staff. The initial goal of the Q-Contact program was to identify, train and empower 15 to 16 members to develop key constituent relationships with selected members of Congress that might be in a position to advance policies and regulatory goals of AQHA. Q-Contacts are working to become a reliable resource and partner in regard to the area of expertise for lawmakers and their staffs.

The following nine Q-Contact members, along with AQHA staff Tom Persechino and Barbara Linke, traveled to Washington, D.C. in February for training and Hill visits: Dr. Jerry Black of California; Kelly Boles Chapman of Michigan; Wade Ellerbroek of Iowa; Norm Luba of Kentucky; Shawn Magee of Louisiana; Ed McNelis of Idaho; Scott Merritt of Nebraska; George Phillips of Mississippi; Georga Sutton of South Dakota.

Several of the Q-Contacts met with their Senators and Congressmen in person. Representatives and Senators for the following states were contacted: Alaska, California, Iowa, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Mississippi and South Dakota. Q-Contacts also visited with the House Agriculture Committee staff.

At each Congressional and Senate office, the Q-Contacts left information on American Quarter Horse ownership and population graphs for each respective state, an updated position statement on pending federal legislation concerning horse processing, the National Conference of State Legislatures resolution and a short DVD featuring Dr. Tom Lenz's presentation on the unwanted horse.

Megan Formeck of Fairfax, Virginia, attended the Q-Contact training session as a junior lobbyist and also made Hill visits. Formeck is an AQHYA member and a student at George Mason University.

"These meetings were extremely successful in getting the initial contact established as well as communicating the Association's position on key pieces of legislation," said AQHA Executive Vice President Don Treadway. "Keeping abreast of the political activities in Washington will benefit all AQHA members."

In February, the initial development and programming of a Q-Contact network began. This on-line community will serve as a key component in AQHA's communications and follow-up with the Q-Contacts.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal, The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal or America's Horse, visit www.aqha.com/magazines