Legislator Awards

Heroes of Main Street and Legislator of the Year

NRF created the Heroes of Main Street and Legislator of the Year awards to recognize Members of Congress for outstanding support of the retail industry’s public policy priorities. These ‘heroes’ have publicly supported policies and initiatives — defined each year by NRF — that recognize the important contributions of the retail industry and have worked to encourage a vibrant, sustained and healthy retail sector. These awards are presented at NRF’s Retail Advocates Summit in Washington, D.C.

For more information about this award program, contact Meghan Keivel.


2018 recipients

House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., was named NRF’s Legislator of the Year, and other members of the House and Senate were recognized as “Heroes of Main Street.” Read the announcement to learn more about the recipients.

2017 recipients

Representative Mike Kelly, R-Pa. was named Legislator of the Year 2017. Kelly is a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, where he serves on the tax, trade and Social Security subcommittees. He was chosen for the Legislator of the Year award by the NRF Policy Council because of his support of pro-growth tax reform and his opposition to a controversial border adjustment tax proposal that would drive up prices for consumers and potentially force some retailers out of business. Learn more about Rep. Kelly.

2016 recipients

Representative Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., were named Legislators of the Year 2016. NRF also recognized a bipartisan group of Members of Congress as Heroes of Main Street that has shown consistent support for legislation critical to the retail industry, including trade, infrastructure investment, tax reform and labor relations.