On April 30, leaders and members of AAMA and AMOA traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with a total of 18 Congressional offices representing states around the nation – lobbying on issues key to coin-op. AAMA met with nine offices and AMOA did the same.
Both organizations focused on relationship building and a few key issues like tariffs, H-2B visas for temporary workers and the ATM bank account closures plaguing the industry.
“As usual, the trip was a resounding success,” said AAMA Exec VP Pete Gustafson. “If nothing else, it’s really important for us to say, ‘Hi, we’re the good guys.’”
In D.C. along with Gustafson were Betson’s Rick Kirby, Alpha-Omega Amusement’s Joe Camarota and Nickels and Dimes’ Kevin Jordan, as well as members who made the trip for the first time: Jonathan Durst of Pyramid Technologies, Joe Coppola and Bob Skowronski of ICE and Howard McAuliffe of Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
In AMOA’s delegation this trip were association Exec VP Lori Schneider, Brian Brotsch, Tim Zahn and Scott John. Said Schneider, “We had a very productive visit. We met with the House side, including the ranking member of the financial services committee (Patrick McHenry).”
Head to www.coin-op.org and www.amoa.comfor details about the groups, and read more about the trip in the June issue of RePlay.