Developing a Voice for Salon Owners
Ohio salon owners were frustrated that they had never had an
organized voice in the public policy landscape. So, in 2013, we
successfully allied salon owners throughout the state and established the Ohio
Salon Association to give a voice to the job creators in the beauty
industry. Since that time, the OSA has actively engaged the Governor’s
office, executive agencies and the Ohio General Assembly to help reform the
state’s growing beauty industry.
Since
our government affairs team created the Ohio Salon Association, we have served
as its legislative counsel. During this time, we have successfully blocked
attempts of several groups that seek to add regulatory burdens on the ability
of salon owners, licensees and schools to provide education to local
populations. In addition, we successfully advocated for SB 213 in the 131st
General Assembly that garnered unanimous, bipartisan votes out of the Ohio
House and Senate. We are currently working on additional reforms to the
beauty industry in the 132nd General Assembly. This has only
been made possible by utilizing the latest grassroots technology to help OSA
members and supporters contact legislators with letter writing, phone calls and
social media outreach.
Driving Sales
A major motorcycle and ATV manufacturer designed a new type
of vehicle that looks like a motorcycle, but drives like a car, and wanted to
change the type of driver’s license required to operate it. Ohio law would
have required its drivers to have a motorcycle endorsement, but, due to the way
that the vehicle functions, the manufacturer preferred that motorists need only
a standard driver’s license to be able to drive it on Ohio roads. As there
are many more Ohioans with a standard driver’s license than those possessing a
motorcycle endorsement, the sought-after change to the law would benefit the
client significantly, markedly increasing the size of the potential market for
the vehicle in Ohio.
The Kegler Brown team worked with the Ohio Bureau of Motor
Vehicles, the Governor’s Office and members of the Ohio General Assembly to
craft a legislative solution. House Bill 429 was noted because it involved
automotive-related law, had already been passed by the Ohio House and was
awaiting passage in the Ohio Senate. Prior to it being passed by the Senate, an
amendment changing Ohio’s driver’s license law was inserted into the
bill. On June of 2016, House Bill 429 was enacted by the Ohio General
Assembly and signed by the Governor.
As of today, Ohioans that wish to operate our client’s
vehicle only need to have a standard driver’s license.
The Power of a Comma
Our client, Insurance Auto Auctions, had customers that were complaining that language in the law involving abandoned vehicles was ambiguous and could create a compliance trap for those seeking to dispose of vehicles in their possession that had been abandoned by their owners. The Kegler Brown government affairs team identified a legislative drafting solution and crafted an amendment that entailed the removal of a single comma from the law. Within 24 hours of drafting the solution, a fast moving bill was identified and a sponsor was recruited to offer the corrective amendment to the bill. Within 30 days, the bill and amendment were passed by the Ohio General Assembly and supported by the governor.
Comprehensive Legislative Victory Achieved for National Telecommunications Provider
The Kegler Brown government affairs team began working with a large telecommunications provider to enact legislation that would take a significant administrative burden off the client regarding the collection and remittance of certain fees within Ohio. While working with legislative leaders on a solution to the first issue, a second issue arose that required us to work with state administrative agency officials to develop a solution. Both problems would have resulted in a significant cost in both time and resources to the company, but we were able to formulate a legislative solution that resulted in one of the largest victories, if not the largest, for the client across the United States.
Uniting a New Organization Around Common Policy Objectives
A disparate group of salon owners created an association believing that the legislative and regulatory environment for beauty-related industries is overly burdensome. The team at Kegler Brown worked with an organization that our firm helped to create -- the Ohio Salon Association -- to get its members to agree to a common set of policy goals and objectives. A Public Policy Agenda was written and was shared with legislators and regulators and an action plan to advocate these changes was prepared and implemented.
