Hill Day is where AUVSI’s Advocacy members can engage face-to-face in our work with policymakers to support laws and regulations that allow and encourage the deployment of uncrewed and autonomous systems to better serve business and society. Members of AUVSI’s Defense, Air, Maritime, Ground, and Cyber Committees will meet with lawmakers to discuss the current state of their industries, upcoming legislation, and shared priorities.
Hill Day back on June 4th, was a complete success for all of our chapters, plus 114 stakeholders from around the country that were broken up into teams, organized and got a chance to speak up. Our message, through our communication, helped these ladies and gentlemen on Capitol Hill move forward and see to it that our industry survives and thrives.
Our team:
(Lamar Ellis, Georgia President), (John Cohan, Empire State President), (Adrian Doko, Texas President), and (Advocacy Master, Scott Shtofman from National) got to speak with the following office LA’s.
Who our team got to see:
Legislative Assistant, Matt Alexis. Representative Nikema Williams (D-GA – 5)
Legislative Assistant, Jackson Long. Representative Nick LaLota (R-NY-1)
Legislative Assistant, Derron Bennett. Representative Fredrerica Wilson (D-FL-24)
Legislative Assistant, Haley Stuckey. Representative Michael Burgess, M.D. (R-TX-26) .
All the LAs were bright and could not wait to get our message through to their bosses.
Our message from NY was right out of our playbook and it melded nicely with the other Chapter Leaders and the representatives we spoke with.
Remember: Our Empire State Chapter’s journey is guided by three core activities that define our path forward:
- Industry Education: We are dedicated to providing our community with the latest knowledge, best practices, and insights into the uncrewed and autonomous systems industry. Through current educational Zoom seminars, resources and future workshops, we aim to empower professionals and enthusiasts alike, members or not, ensuring they are well-equipped to navigate and succeed in this dynamic field.
- Advocacy: Our advocacy efforts are focused on creating a favorable environment for the growth of uncrewed and autonomous systems. We work tirelessly to represent our community’s interests, ensuring that regulations and state governance foster innovation, safety, and progress.
- Connectivity and Collaboration: The strength of our industry lies in the connections we forge and the collaborations we nurture. Through thoughtfully curated experiences and events, we strive to bring together diverse stakeholders from across the AUVSI community and beyond. Our goal is to create opportunities for networking, partnership, and collective advancement that benefits the entire region.
NOTE on the “but there is more…” Our talk with Jackson Long, LA for Nick LaLota, included in detail how NYC was being suppressed by the new laws put upon us last year which we are still continuing to fight. See our last educational video Educator Ed Kostakis and how these laws, if allowed to be continued, will hurt us in NYC and can be adopted by other cities across our state as well as other states across the nation, which can potentially hurt everyone’s future in this industry. With the help of our own Ed Kostakis from XIZMO Media we were armed and ready when asked by Mr. Long if we had any issues from our state. Well, we let them know!
We will schedule a meeting in the fall with Nick LaLota and his staff with the help from concerned parties, (BTW) which any one of you can be a part of, knowing even though Mr. LaLota is a big fan of AAM. We know the trickledown effect from these local restrictions today, currently hurt our remote pilots’ livelihoods, the education for our young locally who are interested in the future of aviation and a place for them to work in New York, including AAM. We want to make Mr. LaLota aware of thar too. If it can be done here, it can be done anywhere. Positively or negatively. Please keep that in mind. Again, we need to Educate, Advocate, Connect and Collaborate, if we are to see our industry move forward on all verticals properly.
Final Note: There is so much more we need to do. If you are interested in the future of our industry, it is time to come aboard. The time is now! Let’s pave the way! This is exactly what AUVSI wants to do which includes LAND, SEA and AIR. The commonality is AUTONOMY and how it all integrates. If you were at AUVSI XPO 2024 in San Diego this year or heard about it, you would have realized that. We have the expertise in this great nation. It’s who we want to collaborate with and let our passions drive us, so let’s expand on that, whatever that passion is!
