Rain, Shine, or Shutdown: ASTA Legislative Day is Still a Go, Says Advocacy VP

Rain, shine, or shutdown, ASTA’s Legislative Day is happening next week.

Just about a day and a half ahead of a possible government shutdown—funding for the government is set to run out at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday unless a deal is struck—Jessica Klement, the vice president of Advocacy for the American Society of Travel Advisors, told TMR that Legislative Day is still going ahead.

“Yes, Legislative Day is still happening,” she said on Monday afternoon.

Legislative Day is scheduled for October 6, 7, and 8. Legislative Day training takes place on October 7, and the actual walk at the Capitol and meetings with representatives are scheduled for October 8.

The day is the biggest day of the year for ASTA’s Advocacy Team, and one where they can set the foundation for their work on Capitol Hill. So, even if there is a lasting shutdown—the government will have five days after the shutdown begins to reach a deal before Legislative Day begins on October 6—the show is going to go on.

Things are fluid, and ASTA will have to pivot (probably more than once). The problem with a shutdown is not that meetings won’t be able to happen, as most meetings are still expected to take place, Klement said. The decision to hold a meeting is ultimately up to each office. Some won’t have staff, who are deemed nonessential and won’t be allowed to work during the shutdown, in town to meet with advisors, but others who have scheduled the representative to take the meeting will.

“We’re expecting most meetings will still take place,” she said. “And the ones that don’t take place will be rescheduled virtually for sometime in the future. We will reschedule them.”

The bigger issue is that no one will be able to hold events on the Capitol Complex during the shutdown.

ASTA has a couple of events scheduled in official Capitol buildings—mainly its closing night reception at the Cannon Caucus Room in the Cannon House Office Building, which is in the official Capitol complex, and its Corporate Event, also on official Capitol property the day after Legislative Day wraps up.

“What we’ve been told is that they are not allowed to hold events. No events can happen on official Capitol property during a shutdown,” Klement said.

Those events will have to be moved, possibly to the conference hotel or possibly to another space. Wherever it may be, ASTA is ready to pivot.

“It’s going to be different day-by-day, if not hour-by-hour,” Klement said.