Is your Realtor protecting you?

It is a truth, unpleasant perhaps to many, that political influence is important to getting things done in this country. All groups employ lobbyists to promote their agendas to municipalities and legislatures at all levels of government. From humanitarian causes to the goals of industries, if your voice is to be heard, nothing gets attention like campaign contributions. The amount of those contributions is directly related to the number of contributing members of a particular lobby.

It should come as no surprise then, that Realtors, some one million strong, are one of the nation's largest lobbies. Our efforts to influence politicians stems, not from pursuit of personal gain, rather to protect and promote property rights and the free exchange of real estate without excessive regulation or interference.

Our lobby, affectionately called The Realtor Party, donates nearly unilaterally to each party, focusing not on partisan politics, but rather on candidates who support our founding principles. Last year our political contributions were distributed to the campaigns at 53 percent Republican, 47 percent Democrat. In other years, the scales have tilted slightly to either side, but are always equitable and in support of candidates who support our basic rights of property.

On a national level, we Realtors successfully lobbied for an extension of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's underwriting of flood insurance. This makes it affordable to transfer ownership of those properties determined by the same agency to be within the boundaries of the 100-year flood plain. Those boundaries, like our government, are constantly shifting and even homes well out of harms way may be included in these flood zone maps.

We fought for, and won, an extension of some Veteran's loan programs that were due to expire. We convinced Congress to extend the Rural housing designation of more than 700 communities to enable them to continue to receive home loans through the United States Department of Agriculture. This is a major boon to our own, Post Falls, who has been invigorated by more than $60 million of said loans in recent history.

Closer to home, our lobbyists and representatives of the Idaho Association of Realtors worked actively on "the hill" to protect and preserve our business and our rights as well as jobs in other industries. A proposed tax on our Realtor dues and fees for Multiple Listing Service membership were threatened with a sales tax under the presumption that those fees were actually software purchases. Both the IAR forms system, and the MLS are forms of cloud computing. During the 2013 Legislative Session, IAR and others introduced HB 243 to amend the definition of "software" in statute to stop the Tax Commission from trying to collect this tax. This bill became law and is currently in effect. This new bill was supported by others in the computing industry who threatened to move their jobs elsewhere should the tax be levied.

In 2012 IAR helped pass into law legislation providing property tax relief to developers in the course of developing their property. What the 2012 bill attempted to do was allow a developer to install site improvement (sewer, water, streets, etc.) without property taxes going up until the lots were sold. Those efforts led to the passage of HR 242 which standardized the exemption and ensured the costs of these exemptions would not be passed along to other properties. We also supported some land use bills and opposed others that did not pass.

We were instrumental in the fight for a state Health Care exchange to comply with the Affordable Care Act. This allows local insurers to stay in business while giving Idahoans the opportunity to shop for mandatory health insurance locally. There are approximately 280,000 Idahoans who do not have insurance. It is expected that 177,000 will participate in the Exchange. The state anticipates operational costs (born by those who access the exchange) to be $58 per year per person compared to $163 on the federal exchange. This is a savings of $105 per year.

Our efforts are far reaching and involve every aspect of the quality of life of our members and our citizens. For a complete report on our legislative activities ask your Realtor if they support the Realtor Party. If they do, then they should be able to provide you a more detailed picture of how our lobbying efforts protect you and your rights in Idaho and in the nation.

Trust an expert...call a Realtor. Call your Realtor or visit www.cdarealtors.com to search properties on the Multiple Listing Service or to find a Realtor member who will represent your best interests.

Kim Cooper is a real estate broker and the spokesman for the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors. Kim and the association invite your feedback and input for this column. You may contact them by writing to the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors, 409 W. Neider, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 or by calling (208) 667-0664.