Raise Your Voice

By Richard E. Juge, CCIM

CCIM Members:

On May 5, CCIM Institute members and their colleagues from the Institute of Real Estate Management will go to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress. You need to be there. No matter what your role in the industry — whether you are a broker, manager, or investor — you need to make your voice heard by the policymakers in Washington, D.C.

Last year 275 CCIM and IREM members participated in more than 225 meetings with their legislators, educating them on commercial real estate brokerage, investment, and management issues. Participants have called this a “real opportunity to contribute to the dialogue and make a difference in the policy and law shaping the future of commercial real estate.”

The CCIM/IREM Capitol Hill visits have a proven track record of bringing change to the commercial real estate industry. Our lobbying efforts in the past few years have resulted in the following policies:

• a permanent ban on banks operating in the real estate industry — 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act;
• extension of the 15-year cost recovery period for leasehold improvement — Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; and
• significant tax cuts on capital gains — The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005.

With the commercial real estate recovery lagging the economic recovery, now is the time for us to bring ideas and solutions to our legislators. Attend the orientation session on May 4 where legislative staff from CCIM, IREM, and the National Association of Realtors will review issues affecting the industry and discuss expectations for the meetings. Then join CCIMs and other industry leaders on May 5 as we bring our concerns about our industry to the nation’s Capitol. 

Richard E. Juge, CCIM
President, CCIM Institute
rjuge@ccim.com

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Turn on your power as an industry leader. To register for the Capitol Hill visit, go to www.ccim.com/capitol2010 or contact Julia Anderson at janderson@ccim.com or (312) 329-6033.