News & Information You’ll Want To Know In Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota & South Dakota
by Bryan Budds
Manager, AOPA Great Lakes Region
With the new year officially upon us, AOPA is again working aggressively to protect and promote general aviation in legislatures across the region. While most state lawmakers are not returning to their offices until the first weeks of January, AOPA has been working behind the scenes on legislative issues that are a priority for our members in their respective states.
As we have seen in several other states – all with AOPA support – lawmakers are looking for ways to strengthen their aviation sector and in turn protect the tens of thousands of aircraft maintenance jobs in their state by passing sales tax exemptions for aircraft parts and labor. In recent years, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Minnesota have all passed similar forms of exemptions.
Now, AOPA is setting our sights on Wisconsin – working closely with companies like Gulfstream and Cessna, county economic development organizations, and the entire cadre of Wisconsin aviation organizations to achieve passage of this important exemption – completely eliminating the sales tax on aircraft parts and labor by early 2014. So, when you see (and you will see them) an email from AOPA Government Affairs asking you to contact your Assemblyman or Senator in Wisconsin to support the proposal – please do! Local voices, in our entire state advocacy, are critical!
But, as always, the legislative portion of AOPA’s regional activity is only part of the story – even when the legislatures are in session. Under the new leadership of AOPA President and CEO Mark Baker, AOPA has committed to holding up to six (6) regional events across the country and is something I’m very excited about.
At the time of the drafting of this article, we have narrowed the focus to a few outstanding airports across the region to host these regional events (one in just about every state in the region) and are working with local partners, airport managers, and many others to find the best fit. By the time you read this article, the locations of these regional events will have been announced, so please check www.aopa.org/great-lakes-rm or twitter.com/aopagreatlakes for up-to-the-minute updates!
