Dear State and Local Government Bargaining and Employment Law Committee Colleagues:
It is with heavy hearts that the Section has decided to postpone the 2022 State and Local Government Bargaining and Employment Law Committee (affectionately known as State & Local) Midwinter Meeting until January 2023. As you know, our Midwinter Meeting has been scheduled for nearly a year to take place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from January 27-29, 2022. The US is currently experiencing an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases. International travel seemed imprudent for the Committee at this time, considering the current surge in cases and the possibility of members having to quarantine in Mexico. The four co-chairs unanimously recommended to our LEL Section liaisons and Section leadership that the meeting be postponed. These Section leaders quickly jumped into action, considered a variety of factors and statistics, and aligned with the recommendation of the co-chairs. While it is not the outcome we were hoping for this year, we do believe it is the right decision to make for our members.
One of the things that makes our committee and the Section of LEL so unique is the commitment to the consensus model across constituencies, and the only silver lining to the cancelation was to watch how unanimous dedication to acting in the best interest of our members played out. We are grateful for the support of all constituencies of LEL leadership, as well as the LEL staff, who sprung into immediate action and provided invaluable support through this whole process.
Not only are we sad to miss another year of learning, lively discussion and fellowship with our Committee, but we are sad to not be able to present the excellent slate of panels that were put together through the hard work of our Programing Co-chairs. In light of that, we are hoping to be able to bring some of those topics to wider audience through ABA LEL webinars. Please stay tuned for announcements regarding any developments.
The ABA will refund registration fees to those who have already registered, to take care of those who have already pledged sponsorships, and to reschedule our meeting in Puerto Vallarta for 2023. The Westin Puerto Vallarta will cancel reservations made within the ABA room block. Please contact the hotel if you reserved your room outside of the room block.
We sincerely wish health and wellness to you and yours and hope to see you all in 2023.
Sincerely from your State and Local Co-Chairs,
Amanda Clark
Kay Hodge
Emily Martin
Barry Simon
Refunds: Cancellations for the Employee Benefits Committee Midwinter Meeting will automatically be processed, and refunds will be credited to you within the next two weeks using your original form of payment.
Hotel: If you reserved a room within the ABA room block, your reservation will be automatically cancelled. No cancellation fee will apply for rooms booked within the ABA room block.
Airlines: Please note that flight reservations must be cancelled by the individual who booked the reservation. It is up to the individual airlines if they will waive change fees or issue credits for the entirety of tickets.