GCAAR’s Government Affairs team:
Advocating for you You might not always see it, but GCAAR’s Government Affairs team is constantly working behind the scenes to advocate for our REALTOR® and affiliate members. Even under the challenging backdrop of the pandemic, they’re continuing to work in collaboration with our members to address and accomplish many advocacy goals, with your best interests in mind. The following is a deeper dive into some of the ways GCAAR looks out for you.
GCAAR’s 2020 accomplishments Successfully advocated for re-opening the Montgomery County Circuit Court Land Records Office At the beginning of the pandemic, the Circuit Court of Montgomery County shuttered the Land Records Office by designating its staff as non-essential. Working with our colleagues at the Maryland Land Title Association (MLTA), GCAAR’s Government Affairs team quickly sprang into action, resulting in the re-opening of the Land Records Office—and avoiding a potential multi-week delay in the recording of all documents tied to real estate transactions. Worked with District of Columbia and Maryland state associations to establish REALTORS® as “essential” GCAAR collaborated with Maryland REALTORS® and the District of Columbia Association of REALTORS® to stay in close contact with state and local leaders throughout the pandemic to keep the industry moving forward. While regulations varied between each jurisdiction, real estate work has remained essential throughout most of the pandemic. Defeated efforts on multiple fronts against raising property and recordation taxes As our country and region battled through the pandemic, Montgomery County’s budget draft included reconsidering its tax structure. GCAAR took the following steps to ensure a recordation tax rate increase would not happen: • Urged the county executive against increasing taxes during such a difficult time.
• Advocated firmly against a much more aggressive
measure a few months later by the Montgomery County Planning Board to raise recordation taxes yet again.
• Took a position on proposed ballot questions A and B for the November election when GCAAR knew it was time to work with the county on better alternatives for property taxes.
® ® 8 — —March/April 2021 2021 16 CAPITAL CAPITALAREA AREAREALTOR REALTOR January/February
• Leveraged your REALTOR® Party (also known as
the REALTOR® Political Action Committee, or RPAC) investments, in partnership with Maryland REALTORS® and NAR REALTOR® Party grants to mount a $200,000 ballot question campaign in favor of Question A and against Question B. Our efforts were dramatically successful.
• Vehemently voiced our opposition against any increases to the County Council.
In the end, thanks to GCAAR’s combined efforts, the council voted to postpone any movement on recordation tax changes. Advocated to Maryland’s real estate commission for online class accreditation Switching our classes to virtual due to the pandemic meant we also had to quickly adapt our largest event of the year, REALTOR® Fest, to a virtual format. Working with Maryland REALTORS® and other area associations, GCAAR successfully got the Maryland Real Estate Commission (MREC) to reconsider its guidance regarding live streaming/virtual distance learning for CE and limiting class size. This allowed for a highly successful REALTOR® Fest that included 48 CE classes and 6,285 continuing education hours reported. Hosted two primary election forums with the Board of Education candidates In 2020 there were open seats on the county’s Board of Education. GCAAR held two forums for the candidates running for the at-large seat, including the now-elected board member Lynne Harris. Hosted two DHCD Maryland Mortgage Program webinars for GCAAR members GCAAR connected with DHCD’s Maryland Mortgage Program (MMP) and, twice last year, teamed up with DHCD to host MMP webinars with over 300 members in attendance.
