The View from Washington

<p>By: Steven Harris,&nbsp;Policy Development and Regulatory Compliance, Food Marketing Institute</p> <p><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/the-view-from-washington.tmb-large-350-.jpeg?sfvrsn=5247796e_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="The View from Washington" title="The View from Washington" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;" />FMI recently published its <a href="https://www.fmi.org/docs/default-source/gr-priority-issues/fmi-gr-report---year-end-2017_pages.pdf?sfvrsn=496a796e_2">end-of-year report</a> to emphasize the value of our government relations and advocacy successes in 2017. Our report provides an overview of both the legislative actions FMI worked to achieve in the 115^th Congress, and also our work on the regulatory/legal actions of the Trump administration as well as highlights of our state and local initiatives and political programs.</p> <p>One of the biggest takeaways from our end-of-year analyses continues to be the importance of our membership. FMI&rsquo;s work in Washington could not be as effective as it is without the active participation of associates up and down the corporate ladders of our member companies. Our CEOs travel to Washington for our annual Day in Washington fly-in; our government relations professionals provide testimony to Congress; our store managers host store tours for lawmakers to better understand the operations of a grocery store; our food safety leaders help educate regulators about the latest developments and challenges; our payments professionals help us navigate the complexities of point-of-sale policies; and many other food retail representatives commit their time and insights to the dozens of components of a comprehensive and effective advocacy team.</p> <p>We hope you will be able to spend a few minutes to look through our <a href="https://www.fmi.org/docs/default-source/gr-priority-issues/fmi-gr-report---year-end-2017_pages.pdf?sfvrsn=496a796e_2">report</a> and learn about some of the successes that we were able to achieve last year with your help, and please <a href="https://www.fmi.org/get-involved/newsletters/government-relations">sign up for our weekly GR Report</a> if you&rsquo;re interested in receiving more regular updates of our government relations work.</p>