IREM LA Legislative Update, January 2008 :

Bill Wenger CPM, Past President, 2007 or IREM LA, recently retuned from active duty with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.   He immediately volunteered to serve as Legislative Chairperson, the IREM LA position he held previously for several years, as well as to co-chair the Programs Committee.   In addition to serving as chairperson for the IREM LA Legislative Committee, Bill also was asked by RVP Joe Greenblatt, CPM, to serve as the IREM Region 11(less Hawaii) representative to the California Business Properties Association.   Bill a few years ago was instrumental in revitalizing and improving the working relationship with CBPA   and   expanding the service received by IREM Region 11.   Further, Bill was also asked two years ago to serve on the IREM national Legislative and Policy Committee.

NATIONAL:

Your IREM HQ has a highly proactive Public Policy and Legislative committee.   Among the services and products they produce:

Legislative News and Bulletins:   Available on your IREM HQ website.

Public Policy Statements

The IREM Legislative Division annually prepares updated versions of the Institute's Legislative & Public Policy Positions for all chapter presidents, legislative chairmen, national committee chairmen and interested members. The Institute encourages all chapters to utilize this information as a guide in monitoring legislative issues and to promote active participation from members in state, local and federal legislative matters.

RPAC

IREM members are eligible to contribute to RPAC - the REALTORS® Political Action Committee since IREM is an affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS®. RPAC has been the largest contributor to federal candidates for the last four election cycles. In the 2006 election cycle, RPAC contributed $4 million directly to candidates - a new record. What's just as important, RPAC is not only powerful, but also bipartisan. Political party is not a criteria--RPAC supports candidates who support REALTORS®.

In addition to direct contributions, RPAC sent out hundreds of thousands pieces of mail to REALTORS®, including IREM members, encouraging them to vote for REALTOR®-supported candidates. In addition, there is the Independent Expenditure (IE) program, which consists of television, radio, and mail urging the general public to vote for the RPAC-supported candidate. The IE program spent over $2.6 million dollars in the 2004 election cycle to support six candidates in highly competitive races, in which all were successful. In 2006, the IE program supported five candidates.

All this political muscle needs your help to keep it competitive and effective. Always remember - RPAC is your best investment in preserving the right to own real estate and protecting our industry.

Call -to-Action

The IREM Legislative Division sends a Call-to-Action memo to all members when there is a time-sensitive policy issue that needs immediate attention. A Call-to-Action urges members to help shape the outcome of pending legislation by sending feedback directly to federal and/or state legislative and regulatory agencies. Sign up to join the Call-to-Action network today!

Briefing Papers

As a valuable reference for IREM members, the Institute compiles briefing papers on significant national and state issues that affect the property management industry. These papers are researched and written by IREM legislative staff and are updated as new developments arise.

State and Local Issues:   Excellent data base and information available to members by log in.

Terrorism Insurance:   H.R. 2761, passed by Congress Dec. 18 th .   The President signed the bill. This bill extends the terrorism insurance underwriting by federal law that expires Dec. 31, 2007.

Energy-Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction:   H.R. 2761, passed by the House amending IRS code to extend to 2010 tax deduction for energy-efficient commercial building expenditures.

CALIFORNIA STATE ISSUES:

In 2007, the CA Legislative initiated 2760 bills.   Of this number, California Business Properties Association actively tracks more than 500 bills of interest or concern by the real estate industry.   The following are selected state legislation issues pertinent to the real estate industry and not intended to be a comprehensive coverage of all current state legislation:

DEMOCRAT UNIVERSAL HEALTH PLAN ADVANCES - YOU NEED TO KNOW!!!

This is a CA issue it is under the heading "California State Issues"

The Assembly Health Committee passed the Democrat Health proposal this week on a straight party line vote.  The committee is "stacked" with members of the opposing party, so the 11-4 vote appears more lopsided than it actually is.

According to a press release from Assembly Speaker Nunez (D-Los Angeles) the bill includes the many provisions of Assembly Bill 8, the Democratic plan vetoed by the Governor earlier this year.  Specifically the health care plan:

• Establishes an individual mandate for most Californians but exempts people who cannot afford to purchase insurance. Affordability is met when the total cost of health insurance is 6.5% or less of a family income.
• Covers all children and parents up to 300% of the federal poverty line.
• Covers all single adults through Medi-Cal up to 250% of the federal poverty line.
• Provides individuals with incomes 250-450% of the federal poverty line not eligible for public programs with an advanceable, refundable tax subsidy to help purchase coverage.
• Ensures that nobody earning between 0-150% of the federal poverty line will be required to pay premiums, co-payments, or deductibles.
• Requires the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB) to establish the minimum benefits package suitable for coverage in California.
• Contains significant cost-containment measures, including allowing the state to pursue bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals and requiring transparency from hospitals.

In addition to cost-containment measures, the bill is financed through a combination of fees and taxes to be approved by voters, including:

• A $2 per pack increase in the tobacco tax.
• An employer fee assessed on a sliding scale. Employers with payrolls up to $ 100 ,000 would be expected to contribute at least 2% of payroll. Employers with payrolls from $100,000 to $250,000 would be expected to contribute at least 4% of payroll. Employers with payrolls above $250,000 would be expected to contribute at least 6.5% of payroll. In addition, employers would be expected to either offer insurance to part-time employees or contribute to the public purchasing pool for those employees.
• A hospital fee assessed at 4% of revenue.

The bill, AB 1x will next be heard on the Assembly Floor.

AB 1208:   Signed by Gov.: Authorizes the clerk of a county board of equalization to accept electronically filed application for a changed assessment containing and authenticated electronic signature.

SB 223:    Signed by Gov.:   Prohibits a licensed appraiser from engaging in any appraisal activity in connection with a purchase, sale, transfer, financing, or development of real property if his or her compensation is dependent on or affected by the value conclusion generated by the appraisal.

AB 715:    Signed by Gov., and amended to favor of RE industry:   Requires all water closets and urinals sold or installed shall use no more than a specified average amount of water per flush.

AB 980:    Signed by Gov., and amended to favor RE industry: Defines a real estate transfer fee as a fee imposed in any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other document affecting the transfer or sale of real property to be paid upon the transfer of the real property, with specified exceptions.

AB 1103:   Signed by Gov., and amended to favor RE industry:   Requires electric and gas utilities to maintain records on the energy consumption data of all nonresidential buildings to which they provide service, in a specified format, for a specific period.   Requires the nonresidential building owner or operator disclose Energy Star Portfolio Manager benchmarking data and ratings for a specific period, to a prospective buyer, lessee of the entire building, or lender that would finance the entire building of the benchmarking data and ratings for the building.

SB 666:   Signed by Gov., and amended to favor RE industry:   Requires a proprietary private security officer to complete training in security officer skills within a specified time period.   Requires Dept. of Consumer Affairs to develop a standard course and curriculum for each training to be administered by an employer, and organization or a school approved by the department.   Exempts certain peace officers.   Requires annual review of training and records.

SB 371:   Supported by IREM and CBPA:   Permits a nonresidential landlord to use a deposit to compensate the landlord for damages resulting from the termination of the lease under specified provisions regarding unpaid rent, rental loss, and detriment proximately caused by the lessee's failure to perform or which is likely to occur in the ordinary course of events.   Provides that a deposit may be used for repair of damages without requiring the deposit was made for that purpose.

Editor's comment:   The following is not for print, but are suggestions for improving the accessibility of legislation updates in a timely manner directly by the IREM LA member:

1. Provide a tie to the California Business Properties Association webpage and to the critical current tracking information for bills pending, signed, approved, opposed and supported by CBPA of those being tracked for the RE industry:

1. www.cbpa.com     Home page for California Business Properties Association the advocate and lobbyist for IREM Region 11 (less Hawaii).

1. www.cbpa.com/2007LegislativeWrap-up.pdf    Legislative summary with status and explanations of bills, signed, pending, opposed, and supported pertinent to the real estate industry and tracked by CBPA.

1. www.irem.org/sechome.cfm?sec=publicpolicy   IREM HQ Legislation and Public Policy home page.   Overview provided.   IREM members, current in their dues and registered with IREM HQ, at no charge, and then access considerable more detail, including details on respective state legislation.