There are few events in American life more awe-inspiring than walking into the Capitol Hill office of your congressman or senator, pulling up a chair, and talking about what you do with the member who represents you in the world’s most powerful legislative body. The plan advisors who got the chance to do just that during the 2013 NAPA DC Fly-In Forum describe the experience in glowing terms, whether it was their first time there or just the most recent visit of many.
In preparing Forum delegates for their trip to the Hill last year, Jim Dornan, political director of ASPPA and NAPA, told them that advocating to Congress on behalf of their livelihood to is the most important way they can help the plan advisor community. “There’s nothing more impactful in our industry than coming and shaping the legislation that’s going to determine how well people retire in this country,” Dornan says. “There are plenty of people trying to take from our industry, trying to blame our industry for things, when in reality we do so much more good than what is perceived. But the powers-that-be don’t know that.”
NAPA encourages all of its members to stay engaged in the political processes at both the state and national level, but the Fly-In Forum is the biggest member-advocacy event of the year. With the plan advisor industry essentially an outgrowth of features in the U.S. tax code — what NAPA executive director/CEO Brian Graff calls “a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.S. government” — the livelihoods of NAPA members could virtually evaporate if certain sections of the tax code were changed radically.
As the people who live and breathe 401(k) plans, NAPA members are a critical resource to members of Congress who are entrusted with changing and implementing the tax code. Mario Lepore, an advisor for UBS from the Detroit suburbs, made his first trip to the Hill at last year’s Fly-In Forum, and called meeting with Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) a great experience and a chance to educate the congresswoman on an issue that matters greatly to him.
“She didn’t know a whole lot about what we were here for, didn’t understand the subject matter nearly as much as we probably do,” Lepore said. “The importance of coming to Washington is to get these politicians to understand how the rules they’re making about our industry — rules that they don’t necessarily understand — will trickle down and affect our jobs and the jobs of our participants.”
Steve Glasgow, a plan advisor from Nashville, was asked what he would tell an advisor who felt despair or apprehension about how the future of the industry is essentially subject to Congress’ actions. “I’d say, ‘get on a plane,’” Glasgow said. “Get up here, and go see your representative.”
The 2014 NAPA DC Fly-In Forum is slated for Sept. 30 – Oct. 1. Applications from qualified plan advisors to attend this year’s Fly-In Forum will be accepted until the limit on Forum delegates is reached — so don’t delay. Click here for more information — and then make plans to get on a plane.
Michael Bushnell is ASPPA's web content manager.
