Government Relations Committee Guidelines

Chairman: John Peterson, CPESC
Staff Liaison: Association Development Director
Board Liaison: Administrative Vice President of the IECA Board of Directors

Purpose

To monitor legislative activity and to represent IECA and its members’ interests to local, regional and national government entities.

Goal

To provide relevant fact-based information to policy makers at the national and local levels, and to inform the IECA membership about legislation that may be of concern to the membership.

Responsibilities

Suggest IECA comments on legislation whenever it is appropriate.
Work with national and local legislators on issues of interest to IECA.
Communicate with legislative bodies on issues of IECA interest, with the approval of the IECA Board or Executive Director.
Prepare U.S. Congressional budget, program policy, and regulatory testimony for IECA, and assist non-U.S. Chapters with similar activities.
Deliver testimony to legislative bodies as an IECA witness when invited.
Write letters expressing IECA positions on issues.
Work with national and local agencies representing IECA on their erosion and sediment control program management policies and responsibilities and rules and regulations concerning programs they manage.
Arrange field visits for government officials and international visitors to visit actual construction sites that demonstrate proper erosion and sediment control. Local IECA members will staff these sites during the visit.
Report to the IECA Board on issues of interest to IECA within the U.S. Federal Government and other nations’ governments when they are discovered.
Recommend appropriate positions on issues for the IECA Board and membership.
Perform other related functions as appropriate and agreed to by the committee chairman, the IECA Board and Executive Director.
Report to Board of Directors as to the progress of the committee at each Board meeting. The report may be submitted in writing.
Encourage IECA Chapters to work with their local governments.

IECA’s Role in Public Policy Formulation

IECA participates in the political and administrative processes that generate public policy by presenting our views to policymakers. These views are developed using a process that has been established by the IECA Board of Directors.

IECA influences policy through the consistent development of high quality, fact based positions on issues affecting erosion control and the environment.

Our policy work provides several products and services to the membership, and also to the publics we serve. They are:

tracking national issues;
developing and distributing position statements;
providing expert testimony;
supporting IECA Chapters in their policy activities.

Membership

One representative from each IECA Chapter, plus the committee chairman. Associate members as interested.

Committee Selection

The chairman will be solicited from the IECA membership, and selected by the IECA Board of Directors.

Each Chapter will select from its members a representative to serve on the committee.

Qualifications

IECA member in good standing.
A Chapter representative must be a member in good standing of that chapter.
Experience working with other associations or groups on similar tasks is helpful but not required.

Chapter Representatives

A Chapter representative shall serve a three-year term. Terms shall be staggered on a three-year rotation with five positions being filled each year. A Chapter representative can serve a maximum of two contiguous terms, but can stand for re-election after a 3 year rotation off of the committee.

Non-Voting Appointments

IECA BOD liaison

Appointed by the BOD President.

Represents the BOD to the committee and acts as its advocate, and represents the committee to the BOD and acts as its advocate.

IECA staff liaison

Appointed by the Executive Director.

Represents the IECA headquarters to the committee and acts as its advocate, and represents the committee to the IECA headquarters and acts as its advocate.

Associate Members

Associate members are those members of IECA who are interested in participating on the committee but have not been appointed as the official representatives of their Chapters or who do not belong to a Chapter.
Associate members do not have set terms.
Associate members do not have a vote on the committee.
Associate members may participate in committee discussions and activities at the discretion of the Chairman.
It is not required that Associate members be notified of committee meetings, but they may be notified at the discretion of the Chairman.

Chairman Selection

The President of the Board appoints the Government Relations Committee chairman after receiving a recommendation from the Board of Directors and/or Government Relations Committee. Candidates for chairman need to have served on the Government Relations Committee for a minimum of one year prior to appointment as chairman. The chairman serves until he or she chooses to step down or is removed by a 2/3 vote of the Board.

Committee Member Removal

Committee members and the chairman may be removed from office for cause, including but not limited to failure to perform duties, by a two-thirds vote of the IECA Board of Directors.

Committee Member Replacement

In the event that the chairman is removed or steps down during his or her term, the Government Relations Committee will recommend a replacement to the President of the Board. The President of the Board will appoint a replacement to complete the term.

In the event that a Chapter representative is removed or steps down during his or her term, the Chapter will appoint a member of the Chapter to fill the position.

Chairman Duties

Preside at all meetings of the Government Relations Committee, including teleconferences.
Formalize the agenda for all meetings after receiving input from the Government Relations Committee, IECA Headquarters, and/or Board of Directors.
Serve as the official spokesperson of the Government Relations Committee.
Submit reports to the Board of Directors.
Undertake tasks to support the purpose and responsibilities of the Government Relations Committee, or assign committee members to undertake tasks as appropriate.

Meetings

The Government Relations Committee will hold a minimum of three meetings each year. One meeting will be in person and take place at the annual IECA conference. Two meetings will be by conference call, at the chairman’s discretion. The committee may meet at other times as designated by the chairman. Additional communications may occur via email or phone at the discretion of the chairman. All Chapter representatives must be notified of meetings a minimum of 14 days prior to a meeting.

Reports

The committee chairman will submit a report to the Administrative Vice President of the IECA Board of Directors a minimum of two weeks prior to the Board meeting twice per year for review by the Board.