At the recent Health & Fitness Association Strategy Meeting, HFA staff shared our commitment to provide information on policy issues impacting our members and the broader industry, as well as the HFA advocacy team’s efforts to prevent legal harm to the industry. We reaffirmed our mission.
HFA’s advocacy efforts have continued to grow since the last global crisis, as threats to the industry are ubiquitous and the future unpredictable.
Over the past year, HFA has won 48 victories in state legislatures, protecting businesses from costly regulatory burdens. Our efforts are detailed in our 2024 State Advocacy Report, “Strengthening the Industry through Strategic Engagement.” This report includes the issues we track, the reasons behind our stance on each issue, and why we continue to rack up wins in our industry.
state situation
Seventy percent of our advocacy efforts focus on protecting and promoting the industry at the state level. Because laws are easier to introduce and pass at the state level and tend to be less visible, state legislatures are the incubators of many policy ideas that end up in the U.S. Congress.
Nothing gets our attention here at HFA. I’m working on it. As we continue to build our foundation in Washington, D.C. for a strong future of industry engagement and positioning, state initiatives often impact industry revenue.
In 2024, HFA tracked more than 1,000 bills in 20 states and examined each bill to determine whether they had a positive or negative impact on the industry. Once we made that decision, we mobilized grassroots advocates and spoke directly with legislators and, in some cases, HFA members who own businesses in the area. In 2024, he met with more than 100 state legislators. HFA Government Affairs Manager Charles Regnante represented the association at many of these meetings, but we also worked with state lobbyists and other industry allies to support advocacy efforts.
The main issues we addressed (and probably continue to address) are:
automatic update
Click to cancel
price transparency
Data privacy protection
Ban on cashless retail stores
Consumption tax on membership rights
Release of liability
Our report explains why these issues are so important to the industry and why we oppose these bills in their entirety or work with legislators to amend them.
emphasize the positive
It’s not necessarily just about tackling harmful laws. Part of our advocacy mission is to promote policies and laws that improve safety, service, and access to facilities and fitness services.
In 2024, HFA supported legislation that would address liability protection for AEDs, subsidies for fitness facilities, and tax credits for military members who are members of fitness facilities. In Pennsylvania, a bill we supported would provide National Guard, Reserve, and active-duty military members with a $600 credit to use at the fitness facility of their choice. This bill passed, and other bills have been proposed in many more states.
HFA is also active in the area of consumer protection. The bills that HFA opposes may be well-intentioned, but given the realities on the ground, these bills fall short and may actually harm consumers. For example, “click to cancel” may sound good in theory, but how such policies are implemented in today’s complex digital world and other realities. Without consideration, these bills will harm not only businesses but also their customers. serve.
Over the next year, we plan to provide more resources and communications on active advocacy. It will also update state regulations for fitness facilities to provide clarity, certainty, and clarity across the country to protect businesses that expand across state lines and sometimes face unforeseen burdens and costs. We plan to ensure uniformity.
Stay informed and engaged
While the 2024 State Advocacy Report covers advocacy efforts in the United States, HFA is fully committed to its global advocacy mission. We know that the policies we work on in U.S. statehouses will eventually be introduced, or have already been introduced, in other countries. That’s why this report and nearly all of our advocacy efforts in the United States are important to our members around the world.
This leads to an important part of successful industry association advocacy. The HFA policy team cannot do it alone. Our members must participate and support our advocacy efforts.
At HFA, we are fortunate to have many of our members actively participating and playing an important role in our advocacy efforts. The 15 industry leaders who make up the HFA policy committee, the National Health & Fitness Alliance (NHFA), are updating the language to better reflect current business practices and promote uniformity across states across the country. I am a volunteer who leads the.
In addition to these supporters, we also need a grassroots army to support us. This is not only important to HFA’s advocacy work, but it also empowers ordinary people to take back power. It may seem difficult to be involved in the system, but you have a voice. Work with us and let’s roar!
Download the report
