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The President's Message
by Peter Calcara
 Thank you for the opportunity to serve as President of your organization. I am both humbled and honored to serve such a diverse and interesting group of members, and to follow in the footsteps of Andy Hilt and the legion of distinguished past PAGR presidents. (Yes, Larry and Ted that means you too!)
In particular, we all owe Andy a big "thank you" for carefully navigating the difficult waters of the last two years. For those of you who may have had your attention elsewhere, under Andy’s watch, PAGR played a key role in the development of the Lobbying Disclosure regulations. The PAGR team, which included Andy, Judy Eschberger, Tony Crisci, and PAGR’s legal counsel Mike Shields, attended countless meetings of the Lobbying Disclosure Regulations Committee, met with IRRC and provided extensive and detailed comments on the proposed rulemaking.
As originally proposed, the regulations would have demeaned the simple act of "monitoring" as lobbying with all its registration and reporting requirements. The impact on grassroots advocacy by many groups and organizations (members and non-members of PAGR), and other interests, was potentially significant.
Under their watchful eyes, we won the battle over monitoring. The final regulations, while not perfect, are better because of PAGR’s involvement, on behalf of its’ members, in the process.
On behalf of the PAGR membership, thank you, Andy, Tony, Judy, and Mike. Great job!
I encourage you to familiarize yourself with our comments, which you can find on our Website.
Looking ahead, my mission as PAGR president is to continue to provide high quality value to your membership dollars. PAGR is in a strong financial position (of course, I had to mention finances - I do represent CPAs!), yet we continue to look for opportunities to fulfill our mission.
Lastly, your thoughts and opinions matter to me and your PAGR board, after all this is your organization. Let us know what you like, what you don’t like. Give us some input on suggested luncheon speakers. Which topics would you like to see covered at Lobbypalooza.
As we embark on another legislative session, I wish you well and look forward to seeing you all at our Feb. 2 Membership Luncheon.
Important 2009 Dates
Thursday, Jan 8 - Board Meeting
Monday, Feb 2 - Membership Meeting
Thursday, Mar 5 - Board Meeting
Monday, April 6 - Membership Meeting
Thursday, May 7 - Board Meeting
Monday, June 1 - Membership Meeting
Thursday, July 9 - Board Meeting
Thursday, Sept 3 - Board Meeting
Monday, Oct 5 - Membership Meeting
Thursday, Nov 5 - Board Meeting
Monday, Dec 7 - Membership Meeting
Membership meetings are held 11:30 am—12:30 pm on the 3rd floor of the Firehouse Restaurant, Harrisburg, except on December 7.
ATTENTION MEMBERS: Order your 2009/2010 Legislative Directories today through PAGR.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry’s convenient, pocket-size quick reference is available to all PAGR members for just $7.50 a copy.
There’s no minimum to buy. Order 1, 10 or 100 and it’s just $7.50 a copy! (Non-members may order for $12.50 per copy)
The cover of the directory will feature a beautiful full-color photo of the capitol and the PAGR logo.
Please send in orders by January 31, 2009.
Please click here to download an order form (PDF) and return to PAGR prior to January 31, 2009.
PO Box 116, Harrisburg, PA 17108-0116
(ph) 717-540-4391
(fax) 717-657-9708
(email) info@pagr.org
Meeting Notice
Monday February 2, 2009
11:30—12:30 pm
Firehouse Restaurant
Third Floor
606 N. 2nd Street • Harrisburg
Our guest will be
Rep. Jennifer Mann,
Majority Caucus Secretary
ALL MEMBERS ARE FREE!
ALL GUESTS OF MEMBERS WILL BE CHARGED $20.
PLEASE RSVP BY January 30 TO
717-540-4391 OR INFO@PAGR.ORG.
THANK YOU.
2009 Board of Directors
Officers
President...............................Peter Calcara
Vice President..........Brinda Carroll Penyak
Secretary................................Gregg Taylor
Treasurer..............................Mark Richards
Board of Directors
Association...............................Brian Barno
Corporate..................................Kris Snader
Lawyer.......................................Tony Crisci
Independent......................Robert Archibald
At Large....................................Ted Mowatt
At Large............................Judy Eschberger
Immediate Past President
Andrew Hilt
Executive Director
Christine Corrigan
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