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| Hard Money & Soft Money-When cash is contributed directly to a political candidate, it is known
as a "hard money" contribution. These contributions may only come from
an individual or a political action committee and must follow
strict limits set forth by the FEC. When cash is contributed to a political party with no limits attached to
the amount that can be received, this is known as a "soft money"
contribution. The funds can come from individuals and political action
committees as with "hard money", but they can also come from any other
source, such as corporations. This money can only be used for "party-building
activities" such as advocating the passage of a law and voter
registration, and not for advocating a particular candidate in an
election. |
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Dear ,
PLEASE RSVP: Important FPC Meetings During REALTOR Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo
Please note the following important meetings as you plan your travel to D.C. in May.
May 10
FPC Lobbyist Prep Salons: 9:30 - 10:30 AM and 10:00 – 11:00 AM
Hotel: Washington
Hilton
Room: Various (see below)
FPC Roundtable: 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Hotel: Omni Shoreham
Blue
Room/Main Floor
May 11
FPC Reception: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Omni Shoreham
Empire Room/ Lower Level
FPC VIP Lounge 12:00 – 5:00 PM
Hyatt Capitol Hill
Congressional
A/Lobby Level
* No RSVP necessary
May 12
FPC VIP Lounge 9:00AM – 5:00 PM
Hyatt Capitol Hill
Congressional
A/Lobby Level
* No RSVP necessary
FPC Lobbyist
Prep Salons - Please Check Newly Added Room Name Information
Please
remember to RSVP for your lobbyist prep salon in May. Please see the schedule
and map below to determine your lobbyist, find out what time your state
meets on Tuesday, May
10th, then RSVP. All salons will take place in the Washington Hilton on Connecticut
Avenue. If you have any questions, please contact Victoria
Givens at VGivens@realtors.org
or 202-383-1021.
Tuesday, May 10
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9:30am - 10:30am FPC Lobbyist Salon 7: Colin
Allen - Cabinet Room
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10:00am - 11:00am FPC Lobbyist Salon 1: Helen
Devlin - Lincoln West/Concourse Level |
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10:00am - 11:00am FPC Lobbyist Salon 2: Jamie
Gregory - Lincoln East/Concourse Level |
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10:00am - 11:00am FPC Lobbyist Salon 3: Jerry
Giovaniello - Monroe Room/Concourse Level |
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10:00am - 11:00am FPC Lobbyist Salon 4: Dan Blair - Cardoza Room/Terrace Level |
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10:00am - 11:00am FPC Lobbyist Salon 5: Joe Harris - Gunston West/Terrace Level |
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10:00am - 11:00am FPC Lobbyist Salon 6: Ken Wingert - Gunston East/Terrace Level |
UPDATE: Electronic FPC Packets for NAR’s Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo
Your Electronic E-Packets for 2016 are almost complete. Much of the information can be accessed now, but your talking points will be made available on April 27, 2016. In the meantime, you can click here, to download and print the other components of your packet. Your e-packet can be found anytime on The REALTOR® Action Center FPC page at http://www.realtoractioncenter.com/realtors/fpc/e-packet-2016/
Your electronic packets will include the following:
- Talking Points
- NAR Congressional Map Report
- RPR Report
- Capitol Hill Map
- Do’s and Don’ts of Meeting with Members of Congress
- Helpful Tips
- Important meetings
- D.C. metro map
- Restaurants around town
- Contact Information for NAR Grassroots Team
You will receive your physical "leave-behind" material for your Capitol Hill
meetings at the FPC Roundtable on May 10th, the Federal Issues Briefing
on May 11th and pamphlets will also be available at the FPC
Lounge. If you have any questions, please contact Victoria Givens at vgivens@realtors.org.
Flood
Insurance Committee Meets in D.C. and NAR President Tom Salomone Sends Op Ed
NAR President Tom Salomone recently co-pinned an op-ed
on flood insurance which ran in The Hill, a widely-read Capital Hill newspaper after NAR's Insurance Committee met in Washinton, D.C. Thirty-five FPCs serve on this esteemed committee. NAR's Insurance Committee Chair, Maria Wells helped with the drafting of the op-ed in coordination with the
SmarterSafer Coalition, whom we've been at odds with in the past.
Read the op-ed here: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/275515-the-clock-is-ticking-on-flood-insurance-reform
Great work team!
NAR Sends Letter to Senate Committee Supporting Rural Housing and H.R. 3700
The Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy held
a hearing on "USDA Rural Development Programs and their Economic Impact
Across America." NAR sent a letter to the Subcommittee stressing the
importance of rural housing programs, and urging them to make them more
accessible. Specifically, NAR asked them to support Senate passage of
H.R. 3700, the "Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act," which
passed the House by a vote of 427-0 in February. For more information on the matter, click here.
NAR letter on Rural Housing Loans
NAR Sends Letter to HUD on FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums
Last week, President Tom Salomone sent a letter to the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with concerns about the Federal
Housing Administration's (FHA) high annual mortgage insurance premiums
and mortgage insurance that is required for the life of the loan.
Letter to FHA
NAR Participates in FAA's Micro Drone Rulemaking Process
NAR participated in the FAA Micro UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee
(ARC), which released its recommendations last week. The purpose of the
ARC was to write recommendations for the Administrator of the FAA,
Michael Huerta, to consider as the FAA moves forward in its UAS
rulemaking. The ARC was assembled by invitation only and NAR was the only real estate group to participate.For more on the topic, click here.
Read the ARC recommendations
Read more about the ARC purpose and process (link is external)
NAR Sends Letter to AQB in response to AQB's Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria
Recently, NAR submitted a comment letter to the Appraiser Qualifications Board
(AQB) in response to their exposure draft concerning proposed changes to
the AQB's Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria. NAR re-iterated recommendations made to the AQB by letter in
September 2015, in particular the need to re-evaluate the need for a
Bachelor’s degree for Certified General and Certified Residential
classifications. NAR also recommended the AQB revise the use of the term
"Trainee" and the three-year residency requirement for Supervisory
Appraisers.
NAR 2016 Comment Letter to AQB (link is external)
AQB Discussion Draft - Potential Changes to the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria (link is external)
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Tips
of the Trade
This Week: Navigating the Hill - "Can I Ride This Elevator?"
Before you get the chance to be in the interesting meetings with
high-level hill staff and your Members of Congress in May, you should spend some time figuring out
how to get around Capitol Hill. The good news is this is easier than it
seems, and it impresses people who are new to the hill when you can
navigate seamlessly through the tunnels and easily get to your legislator's office.
The House Side
On the House side of the Capitol, there are three buildings that house Members’ personal offices as well as committee rooms. These are Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn.
Each building is assigned a number (Cannon is 0, Longworth is 1,
Rayburn is 2), so if you are going to Cannon 345, you’d find that on the
third floor like in any normal building. The strange part is finding
Longworth 1345 and Rayburn 2345 on the third floor of those buildings as
well. (Also, just for fun, Cannon has a fifth floor that can only be
accessed by certain elevators). If you find yourself with a meeting on the 5th floor of Cannon, as you pass thru security,
ask a uniformed officer for the special elevators that go to the 5th floor.
The Senate Side
On the Senate side you also have three buildings: Russell, Hart and Dirksen. Each of these houses personal offices and committee offices. These offices are less tricky to reach than on the House side.
The Underground Tunnels
The entirety of Capitol Hill is connected via tunnels and a subway.
The subway connects the House side and Senate side to the Capitol, but
sadly only staffers (or people WITH staffers), can take the subway or
access the Capitol that way. The House buildings and Senate buildings
are connected as well via their basement levels, and those are accessible to everyone and
keep you from having to go in and out of buildings and through security
multiple times.
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**FPC Weekly Newsletters are now online!
