IFMA Boston chapter member, John Gioioso, CFM, MCR, of Fresenius Medical Care and I had the pleasure of meeting with IFMA members and the IFMA’s legislative team from all across the country in Washington, D.C. We were able to meet with Bruno Frietas, deputy chief of staff for economic development for senator Elizabeth Warren and Morgan Gray, senior policy advisor for senator Edward Markey’s office.

The two-day annual event provided a discussion about pending legislation that may directly impact FM and a first-hand look at how Congress creates and implements the laws that affect our businesses. The people elected and appointed to serve us in federal, state and local government do not understand the critical role a facility manager has in maintaining & creating a safer, healthier, more sustainable facility.

Our first day was an overview of the process of making a Bill and a visit to the Library of Congress. We were also met by the Capitol Hill Architecture team. The dome had been under restoration but on September 6, the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) reopened the Capitol rotunda just in time for our visit. Water leaking through the Capitol dome and into the building caused more than a 1,000 cracks, damaging paint, cast iron, stone and decorative elements in the rotunda. I found it very interesting to learn that the Capitol dome was made from cast iron during the civil war. The scaffolding was in the process of being removed but we were still able to get some great photos with IFMA members from across the country and IFMA’s legislative team.

The Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. We also toured the Library of Congress. It is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is also the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. In the rare books room, a few rare books were previously chosen for us to view. We received a brief history with Q & A’s and a walk up several winding stairs took us to the Library of Congress tower with a view of Washington, D.C. and all the history surrounding this historic center of our country.

Advocacy Day is a way for us to reach out to help educate our elected officials. The morning of September 7 started at Capitol Hill with several informative speeches from elected officials. A ride in the Capitol Hill Building subway led us to our scheduled meetings. Engaging in the legislative process can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. With the help of the Capital chapter and Pace Government relations, we personally had a voice in the effort to influence the government on issues affecting FM’s. The U.S. Government is the largest holder of real estate in the United States, where $100 billion per year is spent on disposable real estate. We were able to bring this to the attention of our state official’s offices. In the hope that within the few weeks that remain before the change in elected officials a bill may be passed to start a committee to get these unused properties sold, leased or reused in some way.

Our second piece of agenda was highlighting the importance of education and training in effective facility management. IFMA has well-informed advocates in Washington, including staff and regular visits by the board of directors. The association’s advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill are dedicated to providing reliable information to the decision makers on issues affecting the built environment and creating common sense solutions for energy efficient building initiatives.

For more information on IFMA’s government affairs program, or to find out how you can become more involved in helping to shape the policy debate in Washington, please email Boston chapter member [email protected].

Annie McEvoy is an associate publisher at New England Real Estate Journal, Norwell, Mass.