GPA Policy & Advocacy Initiative

In the coming year, GPA is proposing to take on a more active role in crafting planning policy and advocating for planning solutions to the issues facing our communities. As part of this, our Legislative Committee is being renamed the Policy and Advocacy Committee and its traditional role of tracking state legislative efforts is going to be expanded by including the efforts of the Chapter’s Delegate Assembly, and more actively engaging our membership in promoting and advocating for better planning in our communities.

Our chapter regularly sends three representatives to the APA Delegate Assembly which meets twice a year, once at the APA National Conference in the Spring, and once as part of the Policy and Advocacy Conference held every September in Washington. In the past, our delegates have helped to influence APA policies on healthy communities, water resource planning, and social equity, and in the coming year APA is also going to be taking on the topic of autonomous vehicles, social equity and housing. It will be the Policy and Advocacy Committee’s role to send delegates to the assembly and represent our chapter in helping to craft APA policy statements.
The efforts of the Delegate Assembly have resulted in policy guides that APA posts on their website. Existing guides include such topics as:

• Aging in Community (2014)
• Agricultural Land Preservation (1999)
• Billboard Controls (1997)
• Climate Change (2011)
• Community and Regional Food Planning (2007)
• Community Residences (1997)
• Endangered Species and Habitat Protection (1999)
• Energy (2012)
• Environment: Waste Management (2002)
• Environment: Wetlands (2002)
• Factory Built Housing (2001)
• Food Planning (2007)
• Freight (2016)
• Hazard Mitigation (2014)
• Healthy Communities (2017)
• Historic and Cultural Resources (1997)
• Homelessness (2003)
• Housing (2006)
• Impact Fees (1988)
• Neighborhood Collaborative Planning (1998)
• Provision of Child Care (1997)
• Public Redevelopment (2004)
• Security (2005)
• Smart Growth (2012)
• Surface Transportation (2010)
• Takings (1995)
• Water (2016)

By merging the efforts of Delegate Assembly with the Legislative Committee, we as a chapter should be in better position to monitor the efforts of our elected officials in Washington and the State capital, play a more active role in crafting planning policy, and marshal our resources to advocate for good planning.

As part of this effort, we want to gain a better understanding of the issues that most concern our membership. Please provide us your input by completing a quick 3-question survey (see link below).

Thanks for your input, and if you are interested in being a part of the new Policy and Advocacy Committee please email, Jim Summerbell, President, or Michael Kray, Policy and Advocacy Committee Chair.