New York State’s Capitol Building. Photo Credit: Matt H. Wade/ Wikipedia
Over the past year, the National Club Association (NCA) has successfully led the charge in defeating two harmful bills to private clubs in Maryland and New York.
Two for Two
In April, NCA helped stop a massive Maryland tax assessment bill targeting clubs that went statewide after initially only targeting Montgomery County.
This past month, a New York bill that would have similarly raised the tax assessments applied to clubs was stopped from coming from a vote. NCA’s efforts, along with work from lobbyists and grassroots advocates in New York prevented the bill from becoming law.
This bill would have allowed local taxing units the right to assess a club’s property at its highest and best use rather than assessing it at a recreational or commercial use. Such a change could have significantly increased expenses for clubs and result in job losses for club employees across the Empire State.
In both New York and Maryland, our efforts have allowed local clubs to be informed, engaged and active in the fight to stop anti-club legislation. Through this work, our mission to protect and defend private clubs was upheld.
NCA Continues the Fight For Clubs
While these bills were defeated in 2018, the possibility remains that they will be reintroduced next year. Fortunately, due to the key groundwork and coalition-building efforts we have undertaken in Maryland and New York—NCA, our allies and valued clubs in these states will be ready once again to prevent these harmful bills from becoming law.
To effectively advocate for you on Capitol Hill and in your state and local jurisdiction, we need your help. We encourage you and your club to stay informed about state and local issues impacting your club and to communicate them to NCA so that we can most effectively address them. For assistance on these or other issues, please contact NCA’s Vice President of Government Relations & General Counsel Brad Steele at [email protected] or 202-822-9822.