D.C. Drama: The Must-See Highlights from TTA's 2025 Legislative Fly-In!

By; Dan Reid, President/Managing Member, Grove Transit

UPDATE FROM TTA PRESIDENT DAN REID

TTA Legislative Fly-in Is A Huge Success

This year’s legislative fly-in marked a significant milestone, with a growing attendance with 17 states represented highlighted the growing momentum behind our advocacy efforts. It was clear that our voice is getting louder and stronger in Washington, and lawmakers are taking notice.

We were honored to be joined by a top-tier, bipartisan group of speakers, reinforcing the importance and urgency of the issues we face.  Over the two days of meetings Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse of Colorado, and Republican Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina joined us to learn about our issues and express their support and interest in working with us. Critical issues such as expanding micro-transit access, protecting the independent contractor model (including tax fairness around tipped income), preserving Medicaid-sponsored non-emergency medical transportation, and securing access to surplus government fleet vehicles were met with serious attention and positive feedback from both sides of the aisle.

The event kicked off with a very successful PAC dinner where Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Rep. Vince Fong (R-CA), Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY), Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY), and Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV) met with TTA Members to field questions and give us their views on the outlook for issues ranging from micro-transit to Medicaid. Another highlight of the PAC dinner included members receiving their official TTA PAC pins to showcase their support.

What made this week even more special was the formal recognition from Congress through House Resolution 318, officially designating April 28–May 2 as National Small Businesses in For-Hire Transportation Week.

Following our formal meetings we all took to the Hill to meet with our staff and elected officials in both the House and Senate.  Paul Miller arranged extra meetings with me to meet with senior staff from several key committees who expressed an interest in the issues we presented.

A special thank-you to our sponsors; Research Underwriters, ADA-Boy Vans, ZTrip, The Black Car Fund, Curb, Hilb Group, and MediTrans for helping to make this event possible.

TTA’s Mastering Business Essentials

Our six-part webinar series is off to a great start. We are averaging over 85 people registered for each session.  We started off with Ken Lucci (Driving Transactions) walking us through how we can make our financial statements more useful to our business operations.  Next came Marc Crawford (Swan Insurance) to remind us of key issues we need to consider when purchasing insurance for our operations, and he was followed by Julia James (ADP) to provide us with tips and best practices for a growing human resources department.

This Friday Michael DeSiato (Business Transition Specialists) will highlight important issues for succession planning, followed next week by industry expert Frank Ciccarella (Synergize Consulting) giving us the necessary tools to build a strong company foundation through policies and procedures.  We wrap up the series with a members only session where Natalie Parra and Ethan Tromp (ZTrip) will show us how to tie all our data sources together to streamline our operations.

Thank you to Bambi for sponsoring this event with TTA and Nirav Chheda (Bambi) for moderating the sessions.

Open Houses

Our open house series continue to be well-received by both members and potential members.  In February VIP Taxi/HealthLift NEMT in Phoenix hosted our first open house. In addition to local attendees, we had members come in from New York, Texas, and Florida to network and participate in discussion.  Several opted to become Certified Stretcher Operator Instructors during our day 2 training session.  In March we moved up to Akron, Ohio for an open house hosted by Driverge Vehicle Innovations.  Once again attendees included individuals from nearby Ohio-based operators, as well as from out of state locations ranging from Georgia to Texas and Oregon.  That evening we all gathered for some networking at Top Golf, and the following day Master Trainer Jim Cermak led a CTAA Wheelchair Securement Train the Trainer session for those choosing to attend.

Next week’s Open House hosted by Braunability is almost sold out, so if you are planning to attend sign up today!  The agenda is packed with interesting sessions and fun activities and tours.

Future Open Houses include (check the TTA website for more information):

·         June 19-21  AAMetro, Bridgewater, MA (clambake on the beach afterwards)

·         July  28-29, Taxelco, Montreal, Canada

·         August 13-15, Sunshine Rides, Grand Junction, Colorado

·         September TBD, Go Ride, Baton Rouge, LA

Webinars

Our regular webinar series has seen success with regular presentations given by industry experts on a wide variety of topics.  The next webinar is scheduled for July 11 with Jay Murdick of Fleet Advisory Associates.  He will present on “Smart Fleet Strategies for 2025”.

Mobilize 2025

Registration for Mobilize 2025 is now open, with early bird registration ending in just a few weeks.   We are also accepting enrollment for sponsors and exhibitors, as well as applications from anyone wishing to present on at topic at Mobilize 2025 at The Paris Hotel in Las Vegas November 4-6. 

Steering Committees

Don’t forget to join us on our monthly steering committee meetings.  This is your chance to hear from and network with other operators on industry best practices as well as topics to help you improve your businesses.  

·         Business Development, May 13, 12:30 ET

·         Operations, May 14, 12 ET

·         Safety & Loss, May 22, 12 ET

Important Announcements

• If you haven’t done so already, please remember to pay your dues, and equally as important, reach out to another motor-vehicle for hire operator in your area and encourage them to join TTA today!

• As you know from the news, things are happening at a frenetic pace in Washington these days.  Your help and support is vital for us to be able to timely respond and make recommendations in DC. If we ask you to write to your elected officials, please do so.  If we ask for your input, please provide it to us quickly.  If we ask for information about your business or competitive landscape, please send it to us.

  
  

You can best be represented in Washington by participating!  If you do your part, we will do ours!

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