Operating a park is no simple feat, and many park owners have invested their own finances and sweat equity into ensuring that the business is a success.
With so much to do, it is no surprise that park owners have little time to ensure their businesses are being protected on the legislative side, too.
“Legislators spend most of their days drafting and arguing bills without always realizing the domino effect their bills cause,” noted Mary Arlington, executive director of both the Colorado and South Dakota associations, as well as the newly formed River & Rockies Coalition. “They don’t know what it’s like to own and operate a campground, to rely on the entire tourism community, to understand the impact good highways can make on the business, to feel the pain of an insurance premium that just doubled or tripled due to strains on the national insurance industry, or to understand the costs of installing new infrastructure because authorities changed a regulation by randomly throwing a dart at a board.”
That is where a state association steps in.
With grassroots advocacy efforts, and in some instances with the help of paid lobbyists, state associations continually monitor legislative issues that can impact parks.
“Having a full-time firm in the state capital is one of the best things that we can do at the state level that couldn’t occur at the individual owner level,” explained Jason Vaughan, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Campground Owners Association. “We at the association level get briefed several times a week on issues directly and indirectly affecting the industry. Additionally, we sit on other tourism boards and coalitions throughout the state and can work with other organizations in the state collaboratively.”
“In California, we have over 2,000 bills introduced every year,” noted Dyana Kelley, president and CEO of the California Outdoor Hospitality Association. “Without monitoring, it would be difficult to know which bills contain language that may be detrimental to parks.”
Why is this important?
Because the wheels of government continue to operate — even during the busy season when most park owners are more focused on camper issues, not bills at the state house.
“The work we have done in South Dakota has been instrumental in killing a bill that would allow an RV dealership to add campsites without needing a campground license,” Arlington noted. “Each year, we have been successful at either stopping or reducing the blow by bills which would have had a negative impact on parks.”
“Every year something comes up that may impact our members,” explained Kelley. “If there isn’t any opposition, bills are often passed through. It is vitally important that we continue to be the voice of the industry, because without it, damaging legislation will get passed.”
No End in Sight!
Many state association leaders have continued to ramp up their advocacy efforts in recent years as more reports of legislative items that impact park owners come down the pipeline.
“There are many states, like here in Pennsylvania, that have divided governments, so that slows things down a bit,” said Vaughan. “But I think the general trend has seen increased legislative activity and increased regulation particularly in the outdoor hospitality industry. In this state alone, in the last five years, there have been amusement tax issues, uniform construction issues, sex trafficking, insurance and increased legislative activity on parts of our business, like hayrides and bouncing pillows, all of which are pretty new legislatively speaking to the campground industry.”
Below is a brief list of some of the recent legislative items state associations have been focused on.
- Florida Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds: Property tax issues in some counties via Non-Ad Valorem Fire and EMS fees.
- Minnesota: A bill that aims to impose surcharges on electric vehicles and potential unfair competition issues due to state bonds being used to develop a city campground.
- Maine Campground Owners Association: Property tax reductions and a 3% sales tax on hotel and lodging rentals.
- Nebraska: Year-round daylight savings time and the incorporation of Camp Augustine into the state park system.
- New Jersey Campground & Outdoor Lodging Association: Inflatable ride safety issues, pet identification in rental units, single-use utensil requirement and T1 permit changes.
- New Mexico: A bill to enact the Travel Insurance Act.
- Campground Owners of New York: ADA website issues and giving park owners a “curing” time for changes.
- North Dakota: Bill related to tourism-oriented direction signs (TODS).
- Ohio Campground Owners Association: Recently championed liability protections for parks
- Oklahoma: Playground equipment bill, a look at taxation issues, including a potential lodging tax, and a labor bill that proposes prohibiting employers from taking certain adverse actions against certain employees based on an expanded list of conditions.
- Pennsylvania Campground Owners Association: Amusement/Admissions Tax
- South Dakota Campground Owners Association: Monitoring nearly two dozen bills this legislative session, including a bill which seeks to change the approval requirement for the construction or expansion of a municipal campground.
- Texas Association of Campground Owners: A bill to use NFPA 1194 as a standard for building RV parks. Also, a bill that would provide more concise definitions of tiny homes versus park model RVs.
- Virginia Campground Owners Association: The proliferation of data centers and how that impacts the environment, energy consumption…etc.
- Utah: A bill that amends the restaurant tax.