Shops and Lawmakers at the Table Together
by Linden Wicklund, AASPMN Executive Director
Later this month, on February 26, AASPMN will host a Day at the Capitol, which will be an opportunity for AASPMN members to meet with the lawmakers from their shop and home districts.
When I first started lobbying, the idea of putting on a suit and meeting with lawmakers was intimidating. What I quickly learned was that these meetings are deeply important for providing specific information to lawmakers about what matters most, and these events feel a bit like a school fieldtrip. Association members will be guided to meetings, given talking points and will be educated on the overall lawmaking process within the context of seeing it happen in real time.
The goal of lobbying is just that, to make the significance and importance of constituent interests as clear as possible. When lawmakers vote on topics or decide what is critical enough to take up time, having met with them to explain a given issue in detail with its relevance to their constituents is critical. This process is fundamental to how the government works in the United States. It is a feedback loop to help remind lawmakers of who they represent and what the impact is of the decisions they make. It is an opportunity for first person narrative instead of secondary research. Industries big and small are the engine of our economy and way of life, so industries need a mechanism for communicating directly with lawmakers and this is what lobbying is.
Unfortunately, this process is largely misunderstood by the public and can be misused. Regardless of the political party in the majority, or who the top leaders are, money and power have a level of influence when it comes to persuading people to see a particular point of view. Because of this, it is easy for lobbying in general to get a bad reputation and easy to criticize companies who are in direct communication with lawmakers about their interests. Lobbying as designed is a powerful opportunity for citizens and organizations to give key information to lawmakers to help them shape laws that truly fix the problems they are intended to solve without unintended consequences.
The talking points for this AASMN Day at the Capitol are focused on three things: improving 72A.201 to address inadequate claims handling and settlements from insurance companies; raise shop concerns over implementation of the new Junk Fees law, MN statute 325D.44; and a general “thank you” to lawmakers to help keep shops top of mind for future issues. Please consider attending. Your voice matters and it is important that we have shops of all shapes and sizes from across the state represented.
Insurance companies have strong government oversight, in part because when disasters hit, if consumers and businesses are underinsured or if insurance companies don’t have the resources needed to fulfill policies, the government ends up having to step in with resources. This means even though the government has a responsibility to make sure customers are made whole after a loss, there is hesitancy to step in and do anything that could be interpreted as increasing the cost, and thus accessibility to, insurance. Shops need to communicate directly with lawmakers to make it clear how critical improvements in the law are. Consumers and shops also need to regularly submit complaints to the Department of Commerce Insurance Division to raise ongoing violations. When only a handful of shops report issues, it makes it seem like these shops are outliers and there isn’t really an issue. When shops hide the wrongdoing by insurance companies from customers, they further solidify those improvements to 72A.201 we are seeking are not needed.
The new Junk Fees law went into effect January 1 this year. Until just recently, it seemed this legislation would have little effect on service or mechanical repair shops. There are no specific fees being threatened for non-compliance and the Attorney General’s office has stated that they are working with businesses to support them with voluntary compliance. This issue only really popped up as a concern recently because a different interpretation of the law was published in an FAQ document on the AG’s website. The new interpretation may or may not have implications for how shop fees need to be listed on estimates and invoices. If a change to how shop fees are documented is needed, much of the responsibility for making changes will fall to the shop management and billing systems. The Day at the Capitol is a chance to remind lawmakers that independent shops are small businesses with strong relationships with customers, and not one of the industries that was causing issues that the new law was intended to address.
Want more? Check out the February 2025 issue of AASP-MN News!