In May, over 70 Chicago REALTORS® traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the National Association of REALTORS® 2019 Legislative Meetings to represent our interests and those of your clients. We spent time with our Chicago and Illinois legislators, educating them on what matters most to our industry and the well-being of private property rights.
Our REALTOR® Federal Political Coordinators and their teams met with our legislators and advocated for the following:
• FLOOD INSURANCE — Reauthorizing and reforming the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to strengthen the program’s solvency.
• QUALIFIED OPPORTUNITY ZONES (QOZS) — Ensuring the success of QOZs, which encourages development and job creation in economically distressed communities through tax incentives for investment in these areas. Here’s everything you need to know about Opportunity Zones.
• INFRASTRUCTURE — Enhancing property values by creating livable communities and business districts through infrastructure improvement policy that reflects a broad community vision and a level playing field for both highway and public transit funding.
• TECHNOLOGY, DATA PRIVACY & SECURITY — Passing effective data privacy legislation that not only establishes uniform standards for businesses, but also equal protection for consumers, while focusing on transparency and consumer choice.
• HEALTH INSURANCE + ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS — Expanding access to Association Health Plans to provide high quality, lower-cost coverage alternatives to many REALTORS® and their families.
• FANNIE & FREDDIE REFORM — Reforming our housing finance system to ensure equal access to mortgage products and rates across the country. Read NAR’s Vision for Housing Finance Reform.
• TAXATION — Extending expired Mortgage Debt Cancellation Tax Relief, fixing the marriage penalty on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, and indexing to inflation the $750,000 cap on mortgage interest deduction and the capital gains exclusion on the sale of a principal residence.
• FAIR HOUSING — Supporting H.R. 5, the Equality Act, which adds fair housing protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.