ASAE Testifies at House Roundtable on Pandemic Risk

On February 23, Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance, held a virtual roundtable on the future of pandemic risk.

ASAE’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy Mary Kate Cunningham, CAE, testified on behalf of ASAE at the event. ASAE’s testimony focused on the essential role of events for associations to pay staff, support essential services and pursue their missions in public service; the critical importance of meetings in innovation, training, and education; and the massive local economic and tax revenue impact of meetings.

The testimony also notes that in states represented by Republican members of the subcommittee, events provide for 930,000 jobs and $116 billion in annual economic activity. ASAE testified that with lack of pandemic coverage, coupled with restricted access to the Paycheck Protection Program, associations, convention and visitor bureaus and local economies have absorbed event cancellation throughout the pandemic. The Business Continuity Coalition, of which ASAE is a member, also submitted a statement for the record.