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Advocacy Committee — Charter

Status: Draft, pre-formation. Adopted by board motion at or shortly after incorporation.

Purpose

To define and execute the Guild's advocacy agenda within the rules that apply to a 501©(6) trade association: position-taking, coalition work, regulatory engagement, and lobbying disclosure. The committee makes sure the Guild speaks effectively on industry issues without compromising tax classification or member trust.

Authority

  • Recommends to the board: the advocacy agenda, policy positions, coalition memberships, and lobbying-activity scope
  • Approves directly (within board-approved scope): public-comment letters, regulatory filings within position limits, and educational outreach to elected officials
  • Maintains the §162(e) lobbying-tracking system and the lobbying nondeductible-dues percentage estimate annually
  • Does not endorse candidates for public office (501©(6) restrictions on political-campaign intervention) and does not commit Guild resources to partisan electoral activity

Composition

  • 3 to 5 members
  • Chair is a director or senior member with policy, government-relations, or regulatory experience
  • At least one member with government-relations or regulatory practice experience (lobbyist, regulatory attorney, policy professional, or comparable)
  • At least one member who is a credentialed Ganjier with operating exposure to the regulatory regimes the Guild engages
  • Term: members 2 years, staggered, renewable once
  • Administrator is non-voting staff support
  • Outside counsel and a registered lobbyist (where retained) may attend in advisory capacity

Cadence

  • Monthly routine; weekly during legislative or regulatory windows
  • Always meets in January (agenda for the year, §162(e) estimate review), April (mid-year position review), November (next-year agenda + lobbying estimate)

Specific responsibilities

Advocacy agenda and positions

  • Develop the annual advocacy agenda from member input, the member survey, and committee scanning
  • Recommend positions to the board; only the full board may adopt an official position on a contested policy issue
  • Maintain a public position register of adopted positions and associated rationales
  • Coordinate with the Communications committee on public statements

Lobbying compliance and §162(e)

  • Maintain the lobbying activity log: who lobbied, on what, where, when, hours and dollars
  • Recommend the annual nondeductible-dues percentage estimate to the Treasurer for the §6033(e) member notice (compliance calendar)
  • Avoid the §6033(e)(2) proxy-tax fallback by accurate notices
  • Track state-level lobbying registration thresholds in any state where the Guild lobbies; register where required
  • Maintain federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) registrations if and when triggered

Regulatory engagement

  • Recommend regulatory filings (comment letters, rulemaking participation, agency meetings) within board scope
  • Coordinate with peer organizations and member companies; avoid duplicative comments where possible
  • Maintain a regulatory tracker for federal and key-state cannabis regulators

Coalitions and partnerships

  • Recommend coalition memberships and joint-statement participation
  • Maintain a coalition register with annual review

Member education and engagement

  • Operate "advocacy 101" sessions for members
  • Maintain a non-partisan policy briefing series explaining issues to members without taking positions where the Guild has not adopted one
  • Support member-led grassroots engagement consistent with §162(e) tracking

What this committee does NOT do

  • Does not endorse candidates for public office; 501©(6) is restricted from political-campaign intervention
  • Does not run a 501©(4) program; if the Guild's advocacy needs grow beyond §162(e) limits, that is a governance question for the board (a separate ©(4) is one option) — not a unilateral committee decision
  • Does not lobby on issues outside the adopted agenda

Decision rights

Decision Authority
Adopt an official Guild position Recommend; board approves
File a public-comment letter within an adopted position Committee approves under delegated authority
Join or leave a coalition Recommend; board approves
Set or revise the annual nondeductible-dues % estimate Recommend; Treasurer + board approve
Retain outside counsel or a registered lobbyist Recommend; board approves; engagement signed by Administrator + Treasurer per signing ladder
Endorse a candidate Prohibited

Reporting

  • Written report at every regular board meeting (positions adopted, filings submitted, regulatory tracker highlights, lobbying log summary)
  • Quarterly lobbying log review with the Treasurer
  • Annual report: agenda outcomes, positions adopted, filings, lobbying hours/dollars, member-engagement results

Deliverables in the first 12 months

  1. Adopted advocacy agenda for Year 1
  2. Operational lobbying activity log + state-by-state registration assessment
  3. Adopted §162(e) nondeductible-dues estimate methodology and first-year estimate
  4. First public position register adopted by board
  5. Member policy briefing series launched

Cross-references