Government Relations

Join ACA As We:

• Elevate Camp Voices in Washington: Building direct relationships with policymakers who shape youth, education, and workforce policy.
• Protect Access and Affordability: Educate members about the importance of cultural exchange, summer childcare funding, workforce development and parent support that keep camps strong.
• Champion the Developmental Impact of High Quality Camp Experiences: Showcase how camp experiences build character, confidence, resilience, and college/career readiness, all in an unplugged environment.

Our ACA Government Affairs Volunteer Leadership

• Scott Brody, our Government Affairs co-chair, leads our efforts in DC.
• He was the ACA National Board Chair during the Covid crisis and led our professionals and volunteers to help camps across America to re-open safely while securing an unprecedented level of financial support from Congress to help camps survive during this challenging time.
• He has been a camp director for 30 years, and is the Director Emeritus of Camps Kenwood & Evergreen, and owner of Everwood Day Camp and and Camp Sewataro.
• Scott has dedicated his life to the power of camp, helping children grow into confident, capable, and connected adults while championing the cause of camp on a national stage.

ACA government relations and advocacy efforts achieved the following for camps. 

After reading through these activities, please consider using the benefits calculator to determine how much ACA has saved you over the past three years and then consider donating 5-10 percent of that amount to ensure ACA can continue to help camps into the future.

Inclusion of Summertime Dates in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) 

The original PPP program application did not allow the use of a summer date to calculate the loan, preventing camps from maximizing their loan amount. After significant advocacy and education from ACA, the Small Business Administration (SBA) agreed and added a summer date field on April 27, 2020. 

Additionally, ACA successfully advocated for the 2020 federal COVID relief bill to include a provision that allows any business to modify their original loan one time to take advantage of a summer date field to calculate the loan amount.  

Second PPP Draw 

The 2020 relief bill also allowed businesses with fewer than 300 employees that had been significantly impacted by the pandemic an opportunity to have a second draw on the PPP program. 

Overnight camps were also allowed to draw three months' worth of payroll instead of two. The organized camp was the only industry allowed to draw an additional month of funding. 

Tax-Free PPP Relief 

The original PPP program did not allow businesses to deduct any of the expenses covered by the loan. ACA successfully advocated for the original intent of the bill, which was to allow for the deduction of these expenses, essentially increasing the camp’s financial relief.   

Separated Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and PPP  

Initially, camps that received an EIDL grant of up to $10,000 were required to deduct that amount from the forgivable amount of their PPP loan. The new relief bill eliminated this requirement, so camps could keep their EIDL emergency grant dollars. 

Free Covid Testing from CDC for 2022  

ACA worked with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), state, local, and territorial health departments to allocate 5 million rapid, point-of-care, and over-the-counter tests per month to schools and camps serving students aged K-12 (up to 1.25 million tests per week) in the summer of 2022. 

In addition, ACA successfully advocated prioritizing camp staff as emergency workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine along with other essential workers.

Camp-School Partnerships - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) 

ACA is currently working with the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) to provide incentives for camps and school districts to engage in partnerships over the next two years. This initiative provides 10 camps with $50,000 per camp over 2 years and to date in 2022 has served 1,643 students across eight states.  

We Need Your Support

Together, we are building the future by ensuring camps provide quality programs. ACA’s government relations work has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of support for camps. Our goals continue to be ambitious. We need your support. Donate to ACA’s Annual Fund Campaign.