ICC GOVERNMENT RELATIONS NEWS

Government Relations Highlights — May

As you all know, May is Building Safety Month, and to celebrate it in our Government Relations department style, every May we have a Hill Day where the Executive Committee of the ICC Board of Directors and local Board members visit their representatives and senators in Congress to spread the word about Building Safety Month, their role as code officials, to talk about building codes and to urge Members of Congress to be supportive. This year, Board President Bill Dupler, Secretary/Treasurer Steve Jones, Past President Jimmy Brothers, and Board members Ron Hoover, Guy Tomberlin, and Rich Truitt spent most of the week in Washington, D.C. Together with ICC’s CEO Rick Weiland, COO Dominic Sims, GR Senior Vice-President Sara Yerkes and other GR staff, they delivered the ICC message to more than 20 members of the U.S. Congress, gaining support and visibility for the mission of building safety across the country. The event started Tuesday night at the High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition (HPBCCC) Awards Ceremony, where CEO Rick Weiland presented the HPBCCC 2012 Leadership Award to ICC Board member Ravi Shah. Representative Russ Carnahan of Missouri, Co-chairs of this Congressional Caucus, spoke about the importance of safety and sustainability in the American building and infrastructure system. Wednesday morning got Hill Day started off early with the Board and staff having pictures taken in front of the U.S. Capitol building, and then heading off to their appointments. There was a good deal of positive feedback, especially on the House side, where a bill to incentivize states to adopt the most recent building codes to receive additional Federal disaster relief money is being considered. The day concluded with an awards presentation and reception at ICC Headquarters. The official Presidential Proclamation establishing May as National Building Safety Month was presented to CEO Rick Weiland by David Miller, FEMA's Associate Administrator for Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration. The Raising the Profile award was presented to State Senator Betty Little of New York, and the Elected Official of the Year awards were presented to Mayor Rich Kaysen of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Senator Dean Cameron of Idaho, and U.S. Representative Judy Biggert of Illinois. The Building Safety Month sponsors were recognized for their supporting efforts. Finally, all of the attendees enjoyed refreshments and a stunning sunset view of the U.S. Capitol building and the rest of downtown Washington, D.C., from the rooftop of ICC’s headquarters, a welcome end to a busy day of supporting and recognizing the efforts of those who do so much to promote building safety across America.