L1775 Members Attend Legislative Conference in Washington DC, Lobby Senate and House

Members of L1775 Political Action team completed a successful trip to Washington DC and I want to share some highlights.  

Ken Martin (SNR), Jason Hatfield (SNR), John Bagala (MRW), Jason Golden (SOM), and Mario Bernardini, Jr. (NOV) traveled to Washington DC to attend the IAFF Alfred K Whitehead Legislative conference.  While there, we heard from a variety of speakers ranging from sitting Senators and Governors, to a member of the Department of Labor on topics of FLSA and wages.  Mario completed the IAFF's rigorous "Political Training Academy" a few weeks earlier, and all Marin firefighters will benefit from the political networking, campaign skills and leadership, and direct lobbying experience afforded to our members by this follow up visit to the IAFF Legislative Conference..

On Tuesday we meet with staff from Congressman Huffmans office.  Brothers Bernadini and Golden took the lead in these meetings where we discussed issues including the establishment of a National Firefighters Cancer Registry, Public Sector Pension Protection, and Federal Firefighter retirement equity.

Before finishing up our meeting, Brothers Golden and Bagala were able to enter into discussion regarding Active shooter (Bagala) and port security (Golden) Grants currently being sought by Marin municipalities. They were both able to secure Congressman Huffman's support for their efforts.

Next we met as part of a California delegation with Senators Boxer and Feinstein. During the meeting with Senator Boxer she personally gave her support for our cancer bill and offered to sign on as the Senate Author or Co-Author if needed. Senator Feinstein's staff offered support to John and Jason for their grants.

I feel this was one of the most productive DC visits L1775 has participated in.  Seeing Senator Boxer offer her support on such an important bill was a highlight, and having Brothers Bagala and Golden secure support on Capitol Hill for their agency's grants was the icing on the cake.

In Brotherhood,
Ken Martin
Political Director
Marin Professional Firefighters
415 726 1704