With PPAI’s Legislative Education and Action Day 2025 less than two weeks away, participants are preparing to meet with members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill to discuss pending legislation and issues relevant to the promotional products industry.
- Making sure policymakers recognize the impact of the promo industry is perhaps the most important aim of the event.
- LEAD 2025 participants will also be opposing the SWAG Act, which would prohibit government agencies from using federal funds on branded merchandise, and advocating for trade agreements such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
Among the priorities on the agenda is asking legislators to support the Modern Worker Empowerment Act (H.R. 1319) whether as a co-sponsor or with their votes.
The Department of Labor’s rulings, through the Fair Labor Standards Act, have created confusing criteria for what qualifies as an independent contractor and has caused unintended consequences for our industry, including jeopardizing the livelihoods of tens of thousands of American entrepreneurs.
- A significant portion of promo’s sales force intentionally consider themselves to be independent workers.
The Modern Worker Empowerment Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act and aims to provide a clear definition that is more favorable to independent workers and establish a common-sense, modern worker classification test under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act.
“PPAI has long advocated for clear and sensible independent contractor rules in support of the thousands of sales professionals who willingly choose to be consultants or independent contractors instead of employees,” says Rachel Zoch, PPAI’s public affairs and research editor.
The promo community wants legislators to know that the regulatory back-and-forth in recent years causes uncertainty that undermines stakeholders throughout the economy and creates ambiguity for workers and businesses who seek independent work relationships.
LEAD 2025
LEAD 2025 takes place April 7-8.
“LEAD offers an important opportunity each year to advocate for our industry through direct conversations with members of Congress and their staffers on Capitol Hill,” says Zoch. “This year, we are especially excited to be working with Thorn Run Partners, our eyes and ears in Washington. With their guidance, we’re hoping it will be an especially impactful event.”
As part of our “promotional products work” message to leaders on Capitol Hill, we’ll be sharing several case studies of successful real-world promo projects for federal and state agencies. These stories will help illustrate for lawmakers why promotional products work, as well as show how promo distributors and suppliers drive growth, create jobs and support local economies.
LEAD Case Studies:
Learn more about PPAI Public Affairs here.
For questions or suggestions on regulatory or government affairs issues, please contact Rachel Zoch at RachelZ@ppai.org.
