b'LEGISLATIVE REPORT:Legislative Committee has LEGISLATIVEKey Role in Setting PVAs Congressional AgendaED WELCH // PVA LEGISLATIVE DIRECTORT he Passenger Vessel Association worksareJennaDeegan-BrownofGrandLadywasincludedwhenlawmakersapproved hard to speak on behalf of its membersCruises,Buff alo,N.Y.,andTimAgraofthe CARES Act early in 2020 in response beforelawmakersinWashington,Chicagos First Lady Cruises. to the economic distress occasioned by the D.C. The PVA Legislative Committee is ancoronavirus pandemic. As a result, numerous important part of that eff ort. The committeeThe next in-person meeting of the LegislativeprivatecompanymembersofthePVAconsiders issues that may arise in CongressCommittee will occur in Long Beach, Calif.,were able to access forgivable, nontaxableand recommends to the board of directorson Friday, February 4, 2022, beginning atPPP loans. The CARES Act also provided whattheassociationslegislativepriorities10 a.m. This gathering will take place justthefi installmentoffederalpandemicrst should be. priortothePVAAnnualConventionatrelief to public transit systems (including MariTrends 2022. The meeting is open to allferry systems).AllthosewhoserveontheLegislativemembers of the Passenger Vessel Association.Committee are volunteers. They come fromA high priority for the PVA legislative agenda across-sectionofthePVAmembership,The Legislative Committees meeting agendawas enactment of the Treasury Departmentsincludingsmallandlargevesseloperators,willbewide-ranging.ItwillreviewsomeCERTS grant program. CERTS grants were publicandprivateferrysystems,andoftheassociationslobbyingeff ortsanddistributed this past August and September associatemembers.Currently,abouttwosuccesses of the past two years. For example,toprivatepassengervesselcompanies,as dozenindividualsserveonthecommitteePVAstronglysupportedthecreationofwell as private operators of motor coaches (and additional new members are welcome!).theU.S.SmallBusinessAdministrationsandschoolbuses.Ofthe$2billion The co-chairs of the Legislative CommitteePaycheck Protection Program (PPP), whichapproved for the CERTS program, about$358 million was awarded to 134 passenger vessel operators, the vast majority of whom INNOVATIVE.are PVA members.With respect to the possible PVA legislative UNIQUE.ALL AMERICAN MARINE agenda for 2022, the Legislative Committee will have plenty of items to discuss. Here is a non-exhaustive list of them:PROVEN.Additional pandemic economic assistance, including a proposed second round of CERTS grants for prior grant recipients (and enabling a qualifi ed company that did not receive a CERTS grant earlier this year to apply for one during the second round); An amendment making CERTS awards nontaxable for purposes of federal income taxes (current law saysso that a CERTS grant is taxable); Replenishing funding for the SBAs Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) that additional qualifi ed entities can receive aid. PVA worked with officials of the SBA to ensure that operators of dining cruise vessels were eligible to ALLAMERICANMARINE.com seek RRF grants. But when it set the Bellingham, WA | 360.647.7602Pictured: Spirit of Matushka - A 150 Passenger, hydrofoil-assisted catamaran, custom built for Major Marine ToursLEGISLATIVE REPORT 30 FOGHORN'