Marlene's View from the Hill

December 16, 2009
Healthcare, Las Vegas—and Santa

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the International Society of Hotel Association Executives’ (ISHAE) winter conference.  ISHAE’s membership consists of the chief staff executives and their staff members who run the many state and local lodging associations found in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

The conference was held in the Mirage Resort and Casino.  Joe McInerney and I spoke on Wednesday morning at the AH&LA Update segment.  We both discussed AH&LA’s position on the massive healthcare bills moving through the House and Senate.  And we also discussed the need for value in having state executives and their membership involved in the association’s Congressional programs, especially next spring’s Legislative Action Summit (LAS). 

Our industry’s strength lies in our ability to communicate our priority issues to federal legislators.  We have many talented state association executives who will help us make our case on Capitol Hill.  2010 will be an interesting election year, so I hope industry members do not miss the opportunity to come to Washington, D.C. in March for the next LAS.   And I encourage the readers of this blog to get involved—you can register today at www.ahla.com/LAS.

I’ve also been watching the progress of the healthcare bill in the Senate.  Late last week, a “broad agreement” was announced where the controversial public option that was strongly opposed by AH&LA would be replaced with a national insurance program provided by private insurers, much like what is currently available to U.S. government employees today.
 
This is a far cry from where Democratic leaders started earlier this year, promising a government plan that would cover all uninsured.  Whether or not this new plan garners enough support from the business community and AH&LA remains to be seen.  Some small business associations such as NFIB have already come out against the Senate bill, while many others are keeping their final decision close to them until a final package emerges later this month or early next year.

Regardless, the outlook for this legislation is changing on a daily basis, so stay tuned.  We are keeping on top of this historic legislative activity through coalition conference calls with organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, or weekly updates via AH&LA’s Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare.
 
When I returned from Las Vegas, I had breakfast with Pierre-Louis Renou, general manager of the Sofitel in Washington, D.C. and Maureen Collins, vice president for human resources development for Sofitel.  We had a terrific discussion of many of the issues facing our industry—including the healthcare bill—and discussed how our AH&LA committees provide an ideal opportunity for us to work toward a common industry goal.

For me, this week will be spent keeping track of developments on health care and checking off Santa’s shopping list.  I will be headed to San Francisco next week with my husband Steve to visit my sister Michele and her three boys,  Aric (9), Max (7),  and Blake (3).   We have already received their extensive Christmas lists, which like health care reform appear to be changing on a daily basis!

Happy holidays!