Make Change with Dollars for McKenna and BUILD
By Pat McGarry President AGC of Washington
2012 presents us with a rare opportunity.
All nine statewide offices (including of course the Governorship!) are up for election along with all 98 members of the State House of Representatives and 25 members of the State Senate. Simply put we have a golden opportunity to change the political climate in 
Washington by electing business-friendly candidates.
In order to take advantage of this opportunity I invite all AGC members to join me in taking two important steps:
1. Attend one of AGC’s fundraising events for Rob McKenna: Nov. 21 in Seattle or Dec. 2 in Bellingham.
2. Support BUILD PAC when renewing your AGC membership.
As you know the AGC Board voted to endorse Rob McKenna for Governor. Our decision included a commitment to support Rob’s candidacy with fundraising and informational efforts in order to spread the word as widely as possible of the importance of his election to our industry.
To help fulfill that commitment AGC is holding a fundraising lunch for Rob in Seattle on Nov. 21 and a reception in Bellingham on Dec. 2. I encourage you to attend one of these and join your fellow AGC members to meet Rob and hear his vision for the future of our state.
Click here for details and RSVP info for the Seattle event. Click here for details and RSVP for the Bellingham event.
We are scheduling these events early in the process as the Legislature will be convening in special session on Nov. 28 with the regular session beginning in January. Rob as a sitting elected state official is prohibited from raising campaign contributions during legislative sessions. That means that Rob won’t be able to raise campaign funds until the regular session adjourns in early March 2012. We want to help him before that campaign “freeze period” kicks in. (Note that for the Bellingham event checks would have to be received before the event by Nov. 27.)
Although a great campaign is underway to elect Rob as Governor that is only half the battle. His proposals to improve the state’s business climate could be thwarted unless he has more legislators willing to support his efforts. That’s where BUILD PAC comes in.
BUILD is the commercial construction industry’s political action committee. An important goal of BUILD PAC is to elect a pro-business majority in the Washington Legislature. AGC has a highly-regarded lobbying team and we have established a solid reputation as effective contributors to public policy development. But we need your help to elect officials who understand business and the importance of the construction industry to Washington State’s economy. We need to help elect officials that will ensure that the laws and regulations that affect our businesses are rational. We need to elect officials will who listen to the construction industry.
When you receive your dues renewal notice you will see that it includes an opportunity to support BUILD. I encourage you to make a contribution to BUILD to elect Legislators who will help our future governor turn the state’s economy around!