The 69th annual meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) took place July 18-22 in Savannah, Georgia. The event was a bipartisan gathering of state legislators, legislative staff and government affairs professionals from 17 states in the southern region of the US.
Several ReMA members were present and used the opportunity to network with legislators and staff regarding issues of importance to the scrap recycling industry in a relaxed atmosphere. One of the most valuable results was the ability for ReMA members, along with their various state lobbyists, to interact with elected officials from other states and discuss what legislative ideas and solutions might be working in their respective states. With introductions from ReMA members in multiple states, the legislators were able to learn about best practices in other states.
There were various plenary sessions and workshops on subjects such as workforce development, environmental, water supply, economic development, education, healthcare, transportation, public safety and various other subjects of interest to attendees. Attendees also spent one morning on technical tours ranging from cattle and poultry production, the Port of Savannah, International Paper and Gulfstream Aerospace. The next SLC meeting will take place July 2016 in Lexington, KY.
ISRI involvement in this event, along with other state outreach events such as NCSL, continue to educate key legislators, staff, and other stakeholders about the positive things that the scrap recycling industry does for the environment, economy and local and state communities across the nation. This involvement also continues to stress that the scrap recycling industry is part of the solution on issues such as metals theft.