Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/585738
4 Oil Prophets It is hard to believe that the 4th Quarter of 2015 begins next week. Time flies when you are having fun. Bart, Lynne, and I recently visited Reynolds Plantation in Georgia to start making plans for next year's summer convention. This was a much needed trip since our association has never used this venue before. It is an absolutely beautiful resort, and the multiple golf courses appear to be first class. You do not want to miss this convention! It will be a nice change of scenery from the beach. As most of you know, it has been a very busy legislative year. Our staff, lobbyist, legal council and board members have been working hard on your behalf through the regular session and two special sessions. We were able to kill a bill that would have increased the state gasoline tax by as much as $.4650 per gallon. You can bet the Department of Transportation and the Road Builders will be back with another bill next spring. Unfortunately, a $.25 per pack Cigarette Tax passed. However, it is much better than the $.83 per pack that the Governor originally proposed. Also, one of our State Representatives tried to get the ABC Board to enact a ban on iced beer barrels in all convenience stores. We attended this board meeting and were able to convince 2 of the 3 board members to vote against it. These are just a few of the many attacks on our industry this year. After being your Chairman for 9 months and seeing everything that goes on behind the scenes on a daily basis, I can assure you that your dues and commitment to this organization is money and time well spent for your business. We have to band together and stay strong because the other side is going to continue trying to find ways to take money out of our pockets and our Underground Trust Fund. I look forward to seeing all of you in Birmingham this December. Let me know if I can help in any way. Sincerely, David Collins Chairman CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS P&CMA Members: Band Together David Collins P&CMA Chairman Only 1 in 5 Cards Prepared for EMV Shift Ahead of the October 1 st deadline, a staggering number of magnetic credit and debit cards don't have chip technology. Visa announced recently that as of July, less than 18% of its 720 million credit and debit cards have the embedded chip and thus are ready for the EMV shift in October. Source: NACS online.