Taking the Bay to the Hill
Whenever anyone asks me about the power of the Coalition, one of the first things I mention is our Chesapeake Bay Day on Capitol Hill, or “Lobby Day.” Every year, the Coalition gathers its members from throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed to meet with their members of Congress and their staff to discuss the importance of funding for the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program. This funding is not only critical to meeting the Bay cleanup goals, but also supports on-the-ground efforts in communities that are improving local rivers and streams. Many of our members who attend have received grants from this funding and others come to talk about what is happening in their districts.
On March 4, the Coalition hosted a very successful 8th annual Chesapeake Bay Day on Capitol Hill, with more than 100 of our members coming from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed to meet with their members of Congress. We had folks traveling all the way from upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to Washington, D.C. Out of a possible 44 meetings, our members met with 41 Congressional offices—a new record for our Lobby Day (we have 49 seats in our watershed, two seats are currently vacant and we conducted our three Delaware meetings with the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed the following week)!
We also had 11 members of Congress come join us for our lunch briefing to speak on their commitment to our work and restoring full funding for the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program. Those members included, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Congressman Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Congresswoman Elaine Luria (D-VA), Congressman A. Don McEachin (D-VA), Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD), Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), and Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA). It was clear from all of their comments that the work that we as a Coalition and that you as an organization do each and every day is very much valued and has their support.
A critical component of our Lobby Day is our appropriations request sign on letters. These letters are what we bring with us to Capitol Hill and include our asks for the budget. This year, our central ask was to increase funding for the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program from $85 million to $90.5 million. This ask is in line with Congresswoman Luria’s Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act, which calls for a steady increase in funding for the Bay Program over the next five years. We are excited to say that, this year, the Coalition collected a record 156 sign-ons to these appropriations request letters!
Lobby Day serves as a powerful reminder that the strength of our Coalition is derived from our members and their passion and willingness to speak up and show up in a way that grabs the attention of our elected officials. At the local, state, and federal level, the dedication of our members to advocate for clean water is how we accomplish so many amazing things as a community.
Kristin Reilly is the Director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition.