WASHINGTON, DC UPDATE: FEBRUARY 25, 2022

Written by mark@esca.org on February 25, 2022. Posted in News and Updates

1. Pandemic Risk Insurance Act (PRIA)

On February 23, Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services held a virtual roundtable on future pandemic risk
- ECA submitted a statement for the record highlighting the importance of restoring communicable disease coverage within event cancellation insurance.
- The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) testified at the event, and the Business Continuity Coalition, of which ECA and ASAE are members, also submitted a statement for the record
MarketWatch recently highlighted ECA in an article on the ongoing return of business events and need for communicable disease coverage going forward

2. MUSIC Act / small business relief legislation

Last week, Congress passed a continuing resolution to extend the deadline fund the federal government for fiscal year 2022 until March 11
- Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) continue to push to attach a $48 billion small business relief bill, including the MUSIC Act, onto government funding legislation, though there are emerging priorities that may also require additional funds
  - President Biden has requested $30 billion in additional COVID-19 funding
  - It is anticipated Congress will also need to appropriate billions of dollars in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
ECA continues to work with its Congressional champions to ensure the MUSIC Act is part of any supplemental small business relief package taken up by Congress in the coming weeks
- ECA would like to thank Trade Show Executive for its recent article highlighting our recent Small Business Advocacy Week and MUSIC Act advocacy efforts
- In addition, ECA board member Chris Griffin and Tommy Goodwin were featured on The Don & Mike Show podcast to talk about the latest regarding industry advocacy

3. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rulemaking on business impersonation fraud

On February 15, ECA joined the Consumer Technology Association and others in responding to the FTC’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking on business impersonation fraud
- The business events industry continues to be targeted by various fraudulent scam efforts including hotel reservation scams and attendee list sale scams
- ECA called on the FTC to (1) establish a rule prohibiting the deceptive impersonation of a business or non-profit and (2) increase education to consumers, businesses, and other stakeholders on the dangers of business impersonation fraud