introduction | ASTA 2020


• Securing small business financial relief related to COVID-19 as part of the CARES Act in March 2020, including access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans and expansion of unemployment benefits to include independent contractors (ICs) and the self-employed. According to member surveys, 78 percent of ASTA’s 14,000 members received relief under at least one of these programs. Then in December 2020, we fought for including ‘second draw’ PPP loans for hard- hit businesses, a significant


expansion of the CARES Act’s Employee Retention Tax Credit (retroactive to 2020 and more generous for the 1st half of 2021) and a continuation of expanded unemployment benefits for ICs and furloughed agency employees.


• Removal from the U.S. Department of Labor ‘Blacklist.’ In 2020, won a four-year fight to compel the U.S. Department of Labor to rescind an arbitrary regulatory ‘blacklist’ that blocks travel agencies from utilizing an exemption from federal overtime rules designed for retail businesses.


2019 AND EARLIER, ASTA CHAMPIONED:


• California Assembly Bill (AB) 5 Win. In 2019, working with ASTA’s consortia, host agency and local chapter leadership, secured an exemption for travel advisors in California Assembly Bill (AB) 5, which would have effectively outlawed the independent contractor model in California, saving agencies there at least $25 million per year.


• Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Bill In 2018. ASTA won a fight against burdensome new consumer disclosures contained in the five-year Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, saving our industry $29.8 million per year in ‘talk time’ and lost sales.


• Tax Relief In 2015, 2017 and 2019, working in coordination with local members and chapters. ASTA successfully


opposed proposals in Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, Ohio and Utah to expand state sales taxes to travel agency services, saving agencies in those states almost $72 million a year collectively in new taxes.


• Travel Insurance Licensing. Working with our insurance partners, starting in 2012, ASTA helped reform costly and complex travel insurance licensing in 48 states plus the District of Columbia. Annual agency savings in licensing costs and training time for these states alone total almost $10.2 million a year.


• In 2019, ASTA’s political action committee (ASTAPAC) smashed fundraising records, bringing in over $413,772, a 44 percent increase over 2018 and a 287 percent increase over the past five years.


Worldwide Destination Guide 2022/23 | ASTA | 21


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