The ABC’s of
Advocacy
CHAMPIONS NC REALTORS® PAC Property Rights Fund (Independent Expenditures)
BY MARK ZIMMERMAN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS From the very beginning, REALTORS® have supported expanding homeownership opportunity, bolstering property owners’ rights and constructive regulation of the real estate industry. These are our core values. They are also among the primary reasons we have joined together as an association, since there is strength in numbers when we are promoting these issues. NC REALTORS® takes our responsibilities to advocate for these values very seriously. Fortunately, our members have consistently supported giving us the tools and resources we need for this work. Since this investment is substantial, we thought we should explain how the process works and why each element is important to give us the best chance for success. The chart on this page summarizes how everything works together in our Government Affairs department. Legislators and regulatory agencies make the laws and regulations under which we have to live. Therefore, we need to convince the rule makers to take our position to ensure those laws and regulations are helpful (or at least not harmful). Lobbyists do the daily work of that education. In contrast to Hollywood’s characterizations of lobbyists, their job is to provide information, explanation and reasoning why our position on an issue should be adopted. They are an integral part of the debates leading to good policy. We employ several experienced, professional lobbying firms who have relationships with the legislature and executive branch to present our case for us. Without them, groups that oppose our issues would have free rein to influence the government in ways that would hurt our clients, customers and industry. Everything else we do is designed to help our lobbying efforts be more persuasive. There are three segments to providing support: finding and assisting lawmakers who champion REALTOR® issues, organizing grassroots pressure for our issues and building an organizational reputation that commands respect for those issues. Let’s break each of those down. 10 INSIGHT • May 2019
State Political Coordinators
Finding AND Assisting our REALTOR® Champions First, it is easier for our advocacy to be successful if we are lobbying folks who already agree with us. So, we support candidates running for office who think homeownership is a good thing, that property owners’ rights are important and that the real estate industry shouldn’t be hampered with unnecessary regulation. One way we do that is through the NC REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC). The RPAC Trustees decide which candidate campaigns get direct contributions from the fund to which you contribute. Your RPAC investment helps us help our friends, regardless their political party. Another way we build champions is through our Property Rights Fund (PRF). The PRF is funded by member dollars. Its member board uses those resources to run advertising in key candidate races. These efforts are independent from the candidate campaign itself. Finally, we have a group of State Political Coordinators (SPCs). These are REALTOR® members who have, or will, build close relationships with state elected officials. The SPCs communicate directly with their legislators on issues or bills on which we need help. If you know a legislator well either personally or professionally, we’d love to have you as an SPC.
