Transcript HUPAC Training State and Local Chairs What is HUPAC? • The Health Underwriters Political Action Committee (HUPAC) is NAHU’s nonpartisan political action committee • The.

HUPAC Training
State and Local Chairs
What is HUPAC?
• The Health Underwriters Political Action Committee
(HUPAC) is NAHU’s nonpartisan political action
committee
• The purpose of the PAC is to solicit funds from NAHU
members for disbursal to campaign committees who
are accessible and willing to consider NAHU’s views
• Created by NAHU in 1995
Overview of Responsibilities
• Recruiting new contributors to HUPAC
• Liaison between national and regional HUPAC
trustees and your chapter
The Basics
• The FEC (Federal Elections Commission) dictates many of the
functions of HUPAC and as HUPAC chair you need to be aware of a
few key items:
– HUPAC contributions can only come from NAHU members, their families,
and NAHU Staff
• This also means HUPAC can only solicit from NAHU members
– Individuals can only contribute $5,000 a year to a PAC
– Contributions to HUPAC’s Candidate Account can only come from
individuals, not companies
– Checks made out to HUPAC MUST be cashed within 15 days of their date,
which means checks should be mailed out to Stakeholder as soon as they
are received
HUPAC’s Accounts
HUPAC has 2 different Accounts
1. Candidate Account
2. Administrative Fund
Who Contributes To The Accounts?
Who Contributes?
1) Candidate Account
- Individual’s contributions through personal
credit cards or bank accounts
- Funds from this account are given to political
candidates, both challengers and incumbents,
democrats and republicans
Who Contributes?
2) Administrative Fund
• Businesses can contribute up to $5,000 a year to
this account
• State and local chapters can also contribute to
this account
• Money in this account goes to the operating
costs of HUPAC so that the candidate fund can
be reserved solely for political contributions
HUPAC Levels
HUPAC has four contribution levels:
– Supporter: $10 per month or $150 annually
– 365 Club: $30 per month ($1 per day) or $365
annually
– Congressional Club: $42 per month or $500 annually
– Capitol Club: highest level of HUPAC contributions
• Gold- $1,000/year or $85/month
• Diamond- $2,000/year or $170/month
• Double Diamond- $3,000/year or $250/month
• Triple Diamond- $5,000/year or $410.00/month
HUPAC Levels
HUPAC levels are determined by lump sums or
monthly draft levels. For example, to reach
Capitol Club status…
• Your Year-to-date contributions are equal to $1,000
(you’ve written one check to HUPAC for $1,000)
-OR• You are signed up for a monthly withdrawal of $85
Monthly Drafts
• HUPAC does one monthly draft from Credit
Cards and Checking accounts
• This occurs on the 23rd of every month
– If a contribution form is received within that week
or just after, no withdrawal will occur until the
following cycle
Who Receives
HUPAC Money?
• Only select political candidates, incumbents, and challengers
receive HUPAC contributions
• Often members in leadership positions or on committees of
jurisdiction
– House: Ways and Means, Rules Committee, Energy and
Commerce, Small Business, Education and Workforce, Budget,
and Appropriations
– Senate: Finance, HELP, Aging, Appropriations, Budget, Small
Business
Who Receives
HUPAC Money?
• Only select political candidates, incumbents, and challengers
receive HUPAC contributions
• NAHU Staff create a budget, which is voted on by the HUPAC
Board of Trustees.
– This helps us make timely contributions to known supporters without
having to go back to the BOT each time.
Who Receives
HUPAC Money?
• Challengers without a voting record fill out a questionnaire, the
HUPAC Board of Trustees then votes to approve the candidate
• Members already serving in Congress not on a committee of
jurisdiction can receive HUPAC contributions if the HUPAC Board
of Trustees approves them
In-District Drops
• HUPAC often does in-district events that allow NAHU members to attend
events hosted by their Congressman
• When in-district events come up NAHU staff contacts state leadership to see if
members are interested in attending
– Usually a small group of members from that state attend the event and
provide feedback to NAHU staff
• If members plan on attending the meeting, HUPAC mails out a check to the
campaign for the event
• What if I hear about an event and want to attend?
– If you become aware of event in-district for an approved member of
Congress, contact NAHU with the details of the event and if feasible HUPAC
make a contribution to the Congressman for the event.
The HUPAC Strategy
HUPAC Plan 2013 – 2014
HUPAC Continues to Grow
“March to a Million Campaign Phase I” a targeted sales program with a
dedicated sales person,
“March to a Million Campaign Phase II”, which was all about reaching out to
all members by an e-mail campaign. The quest was very successful and put
us at a million dollars for the election cycle of 2011 to 2012 moving the PAC to
number 6 amongst all healthcare PACs.
The 2013-2014 Election Cycle Goals
Increase our monthly contributions by 50% and sustain a million dollar a year
track that would make us a two million dollar PAC and place us as the number
one healthcare PAC.
What Resources Are Available To
Me As HUPAC Chair?
All these goals sound great, but what
can I do as a HUPAC Chair to reach
them?
HUPAC Monthly Reports
• Contribution reports for the overall year, broken
down by region, state, and chapter
• Report is emailed out to regional chairs monthly
• Provides name, email, phone, monthly
contribution amounts, YTD contribution
amounts, date of last contribution
• Allows you to identify who in your chapter is giving,
if they’ve fallen behind in giving, etc.
** Beginning this year you will be able to access these
records through the HUPAC Chair Portal**
HUPAC In A Box
HUPAC Chairs will be able to look with their local, state
and HUPAC Chapter information
The HUPAC App
1. Easy to use
2. Works on all mobile platforms
3. Accepts all major credit cards
4. One time and monthly signup
Other Resources
• HUPAC Contribution Form
– Always have plenty of copies to hand out at meetings
• HUPAC Tri-Fold PDF
– Information about HUPAC, it’s goals, and contribution
levels
– Good to hand out to someone who doesn’t know much
about HUPAC
• HUPAC “Back the PAC” Banner
– Great way to draw attention to HUPAC at regional, state,
and chapter meetings
HUPAC Communications
• State of the HUnion
– For all HUPAC Contributors
– Sent out quarterly
– General information on HUPAC, regional contribution levels, HUPAC
activities
• HUPolitics
– For Capitol Club members only
– Sent out quarterly to Capitol Club contributors
– Detailed newsletter covering top political issues related to the health
care industry, as well as election/campaign outlooks
Regional and Local Meetings
• Ask your local or state President for 5-10 minutes at
each chapter meeting to talk about HUPAC
• Come armed with numbers that matter:
– How many Democrats and Republicans have we given to
this year
– How much money your chapter is giving
– Where does your state rank among the rest of the country
– How much per member does your chapter give
Regional and Local Meetings:
What to Say
• What are the benefits of contributing?
– Government has a huge impact on our profession,
our business, and our clients. If we don’t have a
seat at the table, our industry is at risk!
– Contributions to HUPAC allow us to combine our
resources and strength to ensure our voice is
heard!
Reaching Our Goals
• If every member of NAHU gave just $5/month
HUPAC would be A Million Dollar PAC!
• For members who claim “I can’t afford enough to
make a difference,” encourage them to sign up for
just $5/month- remember $5/month from everyone
gets us to $1 million!
• Challenge members already donating to raise their
contribution 1 level
Be Prepared…
• “I can’t afford a large enough contribution to
make a difference.”
– Remember: if every member gave $5/month,
we’d be a million dollar PAC, EVERY DOLLAR
COUNTS
• “How much good is $5 really going to do?”
– Honestly, not that much, but $5-10 from 20,000
members could do a lot of good for millions of
Americans!
Be Prepared…
• “Why should I pay money to some politician in Washington?”
– Every year, legislative mandates and regulations threaten the health
insurance industry. Without a strong presence in Washington to
inform legislators about the impact of their decisions, our careers are
jeopardized. HUPAC affords us the presence!
• “But I’m not affiliated with either party.”
– Neither is HUPAC! We are a nonpartisan group that supports any
legislative candidate illustrating support for our industry. Committing
to HUPAC is committing to your future, not a political party.
HUAPC Builds Important Relationships
On Both Sides of the Aisle
• Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX-32)
– HUPAC has helped foster a relationship with Rep. Pete
Sessions
– Because of NAHU’s presence at PAC events, Rep.
Sessions has grown to understand and become a strong
supporter of agent and broker issues
– In the last Congress, Rep. Sessions help us made
personal phone calls to other Representatives urging
them to sign onto the MLR bill. He was also willing to
talk to House leadership about advancing the bill.
HUPAC Builds Important Relationships
On Both Sides of the Aisle
• Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ-1)
– Rep. Andrews has severed in Congress since 1990. In
those years, because of HUPAC, Rep. Andrews has
become an advocate for agents and brokers on Capitol
Hill
– He understands markets and was an important early
democratic supporter of the MLR bill.
– NAHU staff has built a relationship with Rep. Andrews
and his staff in Washington. HUPAC has allowed for
NAHU members who are Rep. Andrews constituents to
attend in-district meetings.
HUPAC NAHU Staff
• Jessica Waltman
Senior Vice President of Government Affairs
• John Greene
Vice President of Congressional Affairs
• Chris Hartmann
Vice President of Congressional Affairs
• Laura Eldon
Manager of Political Affairs
• Charlotte Denekas
Government Affairs Coordinator
HUPAC NATIONAL BOT
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Chair – Paul Smith
Vice-Chair – Michael Stephens
Region 1 Chair – Vacant
Region 2 Chair – Alan Schulman (MD)
Region 3 Chair – Cathy Cooper (MI)
Region 4 Chair – Eric Kohlsdorf (IA)
Region 5 Chair – Eugene Starks (MS)
Region 6 Chair – Kelly Fristoe (TX)
Region 7 Chair – Ray Magnuson (AZ)
Region 8 Chair – Terry Allard (AK)
Member At-Large – Susan Rash (immediate past Chair)
Member At – Large- Connie Puett
NAHU Board Liaison – Don Goldmann
HUPAC
P.O. Box 20865
Indianapolis, IN 46220-0865
Fax: 317.253.9285
Phone: 202.595.3678
www.HUPAC.org
[email protected]
Thank You!
Paul Smith
HUPAC BoT Chair
(860) 276-9181
[email protected]
Michael Stephens
HUPAC BoT Vice-Chair
(918) 960-9785
[email protected]
Laura Eldon
Manager of Political Affairs
(202) 595- 3684
[email protected]
Charlotte Denekas
Government Affairs Coordinator
(202) 595- 3675
[email protected]