Two weeks ago, nearly 200 grocers from across the country descended on Capitol Hill for the annual Day in Washington, the supermarket industry’s annual fly-in cohosted by the National Grocers Association (NGA), Food Marketing Institute (FMI), and Food Industry Executive Association (FIAE). The lobby day included over 300 meetings with lawmakers to discuss the issues impacting the supermarket industry’s day-to-day operations, including:
- Opposing a provision in the Financial CHOICE Act that would repeal the debit swipe fee reforms that brought transparency and competition to the debit marketplace by preventing financial institutions from price-gouging debit interchange fees; and
- Reforming the tax code in a way that restores predictability and stimulates capital investment so the supermarket industry can focus on expanding their businesses, creating more jobs, and boosting local economies.
The meetings took place at the same time as the House Financial Services Committee marked-up and ultimately approved the Financial CHOICE Act. The bill now heads to the House floor for consideration, where NGA will use the momentum created by Day in Washington to encourage Members of Congress to reject any attempt to dismantle debit swipe fee reform.
During the industry luncheon, Sen. Todd Young shared how he came to the Senate and what’s on the agenda for Congress. Carlos Diaz-Rosillo, Director of Policy and Interagency Coordinator at the White House, later reaffirmed the Administration’s support for pro-business policies and the supermarket industry.
Day in Washington is a crucial part of NGA’s federal advocacy efforts that help shape public policy and put a face to the work that independent grocers do. But, these efforts don’t stop here. You can make your voice heard on important policy issues by visiting www.grocerstakeaction.org.
