Filtered by category: Legislative Clear Filter

Return to the Hill: CL&LR 2023

Originally published on January 18, 2023 by Aquiles Suarez for NAIOP E-Newsletter.

In less than two weeks – and for the first time since February 2020 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – NAIOP members and chapter local executives will be headed to Capitol Hill to meet with their elected representatives, senators and congressional staff. In so doing, they will be taking the opportunity to establish relationships with newly elected members of Congress, renew and deepen existing ties with incumbents, and talk to their elected officials about issues important to the commercial real estate industry.

All of this occurs as part of NAIOP’s Chapter Leadership and Legislative Retreat (CL&LR), a three-day conference where local NAIOP chapter executives and their leadership come together in our nation’s capital to talk about their chapters, share best practices, and spend a day meeting with their elected federal representatives on Wednesday, Feb. 1, Capitol Hill Day. For much of the next two weeks, NAIOP members coming to Washington, D.C. will be scheduling meetings with their senators and representatives to discuss NAIOP’s 2023 Federal Priorities with them.

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What a Way for Congress to Start the Year

Originally published on January 4, 2023, by Aquiles Suarez for NAIOP E-Newsletter.

A word that has been repeatedly used to describe the workings of Congress is “chaos.” So why should we expect things to change just because it’s a new year? The spectacle put on by the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives trying to choose a speaker this week clearly shows that nothing will be a sure thing in this Congress.

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the Republican minority leader in the last Congress who wanted to be speaker in the next, after his party won a slim majority in the 2022 congressional midterm elections, failed to get the needed number of votes on the first round of voting. Then he failed on the second round. Ditto on the third try.  Meanwhile, House Democrats were clearly enjoying the Republican dysfunction, with all of them voting for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), giving him more votes than McCarthy. While Jeffries was not going to get enough votes to become the speaker, it was great optics for House Democrats who were united while Republicans appeared disorganized.

Choosing a speaker is the first order of business for a newly elected Congress. It’s a constitutional requirement, and nothing in the House happens until a speaker is chosen. Members cannot be sworn in, committee assignments cannot be made, and Congress cannot consider legislation. It has been 100 years since a speaker was not chosen by a new Congress on the first ballot.

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State Election Successes for Both Political Parties in 2022

Originally published on December 14, 2022 by Toby Burke for NAIOP E-Newsletter.

While the primary focus of the national media during the 2022 election may have been on a potential “red wave” for control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, there were over 6,200 state legislative races in 46 states according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The outcomes of these state races significantly impact core policy issues of importance for commercial real estate, such as taxes, regulations and economic development. Generally, political pundits may conclude that the status quo was maintained in this election cycle, with Republicans remaining in political control in a majority of state legislatures and Democrats making modest but significant gains in a few.

Both the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee can claim political successes, either maintaining or flipping political majorities in certain state chambers. These include lowering a chamber’s majority by the opposing party gaining seats, or ending veto-proof majorities. 

The post-election analysis by MultiState shows 28 state legislatures under full Republican control, compared to 20 legislatures under full Democratic control. The political parties in the commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia will have divided control between the two chambers heading into the 2023 session. Prior to this year’s election, Republicans controlled 30 state legislatures to 17 by the Democrats with 3 under divided control: Alaska (House bipartisan coalition), Minnesota and Virginia. The election breakdown by Multistate reflects Democrats taking over chamber majorities in the Michigan legislature, the Minnesota Senate, and the Pennsylvania House.

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Congress Continues Funding Discussions as Deadline Approaches

Originally published by NAIOP E-Newsletter on December 13, 2022. 

Senate budget negotiators were at an impasse last week with a Dec. 16 deadline looming for passing a spending measure that would keep the government funded. Indications are that bipartisan negotiations will continue, however, after Democrats delayed introducing their own partisan omnibus funding legislation. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the lead Senate negotiator, stated that he was holding off the introduction of an omnibus appropriations bill because progress in bipartisan talks had been made over the weekend.

Congress is expected to pass a temporary stopgap measure extending the funding deadline for another week, until Dec. 23, to give negotiators more time to finalize a deal. If an agreement is not reached, Democrats have threatened to move a yearlong continuing resolution that would fund the government at current levels, although it is unclear whether they would have the votes to pass the measure.

Congress Begins Lame Duck Session After Surprise Midterms

Members of Congress returned this week after midterm elections delivered results surprising both political parties. With President Joe Biden’s approval ratings hovering in the mid-40% range and inflation as the top issue for a plurality of voters, there was widespread expectation that the Republican party would easily regain the majority in the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

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IRS and Treasury Introduce Regulatory Plan

Originally published on November 8, 2022, by the NAIOP E-Newsletter. 

While most of the political establishment in the nation’s capital is focused on the midterm congressional elections, federal agency staff are still moving forward on developing regulations from legislation enacted this year. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service last Friday issued their Priority Guidance Plan for 2022-2023, detailing their top regulatory priorities for the next year.

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Real Estate Industry Weighs in on Property Conversion Legislation

Originally published on October 18, 2022, by NAIOP.

NAIOP and its real estate industry allies last week provided suggestions on the Revitalizing Downtowns Act, legislation that would create a new tax credit to facilitate the conversion of older office buildings into multifamily housing structures. The bill would provide a 20% tax credit for expenses in converting a building that is at least 25 years old to multifamily housing, provided that at least 20% of the units are reserved for affordable housing. In a coalition letter to sponsors of the legislation, the real estate groups suggest expanding the category of properties eligible for the credit and ensuring real estate investment trusts can utilize the incentive, among other things.

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Congress Extends Government Funding

Originally published on October 4, 2022, by NAIOP.

Last Friday, the House passed a stopgap funding bill – sending it for President Joe Biden’s signature only hours before a government shutdown would have taken effect – before lawmakers left to campaign for the November midterm elections. The Senate had passed the Continuing Resolution (CR) days prior, after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) agreed to remove controversial energy project permitting legislation that had been part of his agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to get his support for passage of the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August.

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House Republicans Outline Post-election Policy Agenda

Originally published on September 27, 2022 by NAIOP Source E-Newslettter.

Last Friday in Pittsburgh, House Republicans, led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), presented their “Commitment to America,” a broad outline of the direction House Republicans would take if they regained the majority in the House of Representatives after the November congressional midterm elections. The outline reflects more detailed proposals made by various policy task forces established by McCarthy to produce a policy agenda in advance of the midterms.

 

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State and Local Governments Play Key Role in Achieving Federal Policy Objectives

Originally published on September 21, 2022, by Toby Burke for NAIOP Blog.

The federal government in the United States is responsible for establishing national policies and objectives that are often not achievable without the active participation of state and local governments in our federalist system of government. Federal funds are usually included as part of these efforts to assist state and local governments in following federal guidelines and procedures to implement these policies. This reliance on the involvement of state and local governments places significant importance on strong intergovernmental relationships. 

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UDO Meeting Set For July 11; CLT Water Plan Review Back On

REBIC's Rob Nenfelt and his team put together this week's Two For Tuesday and UDO takes center stage early next week.

UDO - Public Hearing Scheduled for Monday

The Charlotte City Council has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for Monday, July 11. The Council Action Review begins at 5:00 pm followed by the Public Forum/Business meeting at 6:30 pm. An agenda should be available here by Friday afternoon. Click here to sign up to speakRebic Logo

Also, Planning Staff has just released responses to public comments submitted prior to last Thursday's deadline. Additional changes will be reflected in the next and likely final draft when it is released which will occur prior to the expected vote on adoption in late August. Here's a link to the page containing the Second Draft Public Comments - With Staff Responses.

For additional UDO resources, please visit Charlotte's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) - (charlotteudo.org).

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Raleigh UDO: Lessons Learned | Panel Discussion

 

As Charlotte strives for a UDO, what can we learn from Raleigh? Hear a discussion with public and private perspectives about the process, transition and implementation.

Election Update

 

originally published by REBIC with permission to repost

Two for Tuesday - REBIC

Important reminder that the comment period for the first draft of Charlotte’s proposed Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) closes at the end of the day on Friday, March 18th. We anticipate the next draft being released sometime in May and have encouraged a number of changes aimed at providing greater certainty with reduced timelines, more flexibility for challenging projects, and the ability to develop and produce additional housing stock to meet existing and future demands. We hope you will take the time to share your concerns with Planning Staff through the available online comment portal.

Reminder of Upcoming Election Schedule

 

originally published by REBIC with permission to prepost

Vote

Primary Elections are just around the corner! The time is now to do your research and get involved. As a reminder, the Election schedule is as follows:

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State Leaders Debate Budget Surpluses and Taxes

 

originally published by TOBY BURKE for NAIOP National with permission to repost

Graphic

Most state governments have emerged from the pandemic-induced economic slowdown with budgetary surpluses because projected revenue losses did not occur.  Losses in tax collections from certain sectors of the economy, such as restaurants, hospitality and entertainment, were offset by the collection of sales taxes from increased internet transactions, along with the $193.5 billion to states under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The State Expenditure Report from the National Association of State Budget Officers notes that, while state expenditures have increased, so have revenues by 12.8% for fiscal year.

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Congress Rushing to Reach Spending Deal

 

originally published for NAIOP National

Authorization for continued government spending will expire on Friday, March 11, unless Congress agrees on an omnibus fiscal 2022 appropriations bill or passes another short-term funding extension. The time frame for action is shorter, however, because the House of Representatives is scheduled to recess Wednesday, with Democrats going to Philadelphia for their policy retreat.

House Democrats had planned to pass the omnibus spending bill by Wednesday, but negotiations have been complicated by a White House request for an additional $22.5 billion for COVID-19 relief funding, and the need for supplemental funding for humanitarian, military and economic aid for Ukraine. 

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New District Maps Passed Friday

 

Policy Maps Pic

NC lawmakers pass new political maps, this time with…

North Carolina lawmakers have now passed new political districts for themselves and the state’s 14 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives – but it’s not the final decision, since the court system will still have a say in the matter next week. …

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www.newsobserver.com

Final Recommended CLT 2040 Policy Map

 

2040 Pic

The final recommended policy maps were released yesterday and can be found here.

  1. Please review any properties in which you may have an interest (current or future), provide comments online (either on the map app directly or via email to [email protected]), and let us know (via email) of any remaining concerns you may have. The comment period ends on March 21st.
  2. We are putting together a list of those who are willing to speak at the public hearing scheduled for the evening of Monday, February 28th. At this point it appears comments will be accepted both in person (PREFERRED – demonstrates higher level of commitment and interest in the issue) and virtually. If you or someone in your organization is available please sign up here and we will contact you.

The Policy Map is scheduled to be adopted on March 28th. The upcoming public hearing is our opportunity to convey any outstanding concerns to the ultimate decision makers – Members of the Charlotte City Council. General talking points will be available for distribution prior to the hearing.

INTERESTED IN SPEAKING AT THE CHARLOTTE CITY COUNCIL MEETING? SIGN UP HERE TO LET US KNOW!

Link Up with the Legislative Listserv

 

Last year, the NAIOP Charlotte Legislative E-List was created with the purpose of allowing members in good standing a platform to stay up to date and connected to the many legislative activities going on in Charlotte and the industry as well as participate in ongoing conversations relevant to the commercial real estate development community. Between the 2040 Comp Plan, UDO, Policy Maps, just to name a few, this is a fantastic tool to stay in the know. This list can be managed through your member profile. Follow these steps to sign up today.

Charlotte UDO Updates

 

2040 Policy Map
Charlotte’s 2040 Policy Map, currently undergoing its third iteration, is scheduled to be released next Monday, February 21st with a public hearing to follow on February 28th. We hope the new map will incorporate many of our recommendations, including encouraging higher densities where appropriate and letting the market guide potential future land use options. 

Election Update
The General Assembly is scheduled to vote Wednesday and Thursday of this week on newly drawn Congressional and State House and Senate Districts. Many involved in the process are hoping to reach some sort of compromise so the elections may proceed. Candidate filing is scheduled to recommence on February 24th. If things haven’t been settled by then, look for election dates to be pushed back yet again.


 

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