New Hampshire joins 16 other states by launching the Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development to be housed in the state’s Department of Business and Economic Affairs.  Outdoor recreation is a $2.7 billion industry in New Hampshire, making up 3.3% of the state’s economy – well above the national average.  “The creation of this office […]

Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced plans to direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Agriculture Department to take steps to close the demand gap faced since granting waivers to oil refineries. This move will effectively force larger refineries not currently granted waivers to increase how much ethanol they blend into […]

On September 25, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources passed the bipartisan National Fish Habitat Conservation Through Partnership Act (H.R. 1747), introduced by Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Marc Veasey (D-TX), which would authorize public-private partnership programs to conserve fish habitats across the United States. Specifically, this bill would fund dam removals, […]

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) and National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) joint political action committee, BoatPAC, had its highest single-year fundraising total, raising over $252,000 from 392 unique donors. This is up from the $202,000 raised by 348 unique donors in 2018.  BoatPAC has contributed over $190,000 to pro-boating champions this election […]

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released data proving what we already knew: recreational boating is a major generator of economic activity across the nation. Outdoor recreation generates $778 billion in gross annual input, or 2.2 percent of annual U.S. GDP, while supporting 5.2 million jobs. This makes the industry larger than […]

Last week, members of the MRAA team had the chance to discuss the bill with Congressman Jim Hagedorn. Today, Congressmen Jim Hagedorn (MN-01), Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02), Ron Estes (KS-04) and Paul Mitchell (MI-10) introduced the “American Workforce Empowerment Act,” a bipartisan solution to address the growing shortage of skilled workers to fill job openings […]

The MRAA Advocacy team is hard at work for you. Newly appointed MRAA Government Relations Manager, Adam Fortier-Brown is working with members of Congress to address concerns with improving E15 labeling, and strengthening the U.S. labor force and the trades.  To do this, he met with members on both sides of the aisle in the […]

Our MRAA advocacy team met with members of NOAA to discuss the agency’s proposal to expand the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary, found here. The team will continue to engage with NOAA to ensure that the dealer’s voice is heard and considered through this process. Locations for public comment begin at 6PM EST at the below […]

BoatPAC, the joint political action committee of NMMA and MRAA will host two events in Florida in the coming weeks with key members of Congress and industry champions. On October 1, BoatPAC will host an event in Tampa during IBEX with key industry champions at Jackson’s Bistro from 5:30pm – 8:30pm. Then, BoatPAC will head […]

BoatPAC, the joint political action committee of MRAA and NMMA, will host two upcoming events in Florida with key members of Congress and industry champions. Next Tuesday, Aug. 27, BoatPAC will host Congressman Mike Waltz in the Orlando/Daytona area at Mission Inn from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. BoatPAC then heads to Tampa for an […]