Another home run

Texas REALTORS® and private-property owners come out winners after the 77th legislative session.

by John Eckstrum   In the July 1999 issue of Texas REALTOR®, John Walton, TAR president at that time, described the success of the legislative session that year and predicted that we would have another fantastic session in 2001. Well, guess what? He was right on the money. We did have an outstanding session this year. When I say we, I’m talking about REALTORS® and private-property owners. (I’m both, as most of you are.)

A prediction two years out sounds somewhat bold, I suppose. Those who know this organization well, though, know that his prediction was as close as you get to a sure thing. And now that I have been through a legislative session as chairman of TAR, I understand even better why he was so confident then that we would be so successful this year. The people involved in TAR–from the thousands of REALTORS® at the grassroots level to the volunteer leaders to the talented and tireless staff–are constantly working to forward the best interests of REALTORS® and property owners.

Those of you not active in the association’s governmental and political affairs programs only see the end results of these tremendous efforts. It may seem that we sit back and wait for the session every odd-numbered year, jump in with a handful of issues, and accomplish our goals by some combination of excellent timing and good fortune. That’s kind of like saying a baseball player who comes in the game in the ninth inning and hits a game-winning home run just got lucky. The truth is that ballplayer practiced every day for years, studied the game and individual pitchers, prepared himself for every situation, and then took advantage when the opportunity presented itself.

TAR goes to great lengths to lay the groundwork for success, too. Funds raised for TREPAC help elect candidates who hold favorable views on private property rights and real estate issues. Our legislative task forces study topics and help determine if TAR should take a legislative position. In fact, recommendations from the Manufactured Housing, Property Owner Associations, and TREC legislative task forces helped shape legislation that passed during this session. The TAR political affairs programs (like the Rapid Response System and Legislative Liaison), help us get our positions heard. The Political Affairs and Legislative committees organize and energize our members to spread the word on our issues and get out the vote. These efforts and many others drive our success, session after session.

I encourage you to read the article beginning on page 34 for a rundown of the legislation we helped pass and the bills we pushed to amend or stop in their tracks. And if you don’t think amending and killing legislation is just as important as passing legislation, you definitely should read the item about the proposal to tax all real estate transactions at 8.25%.

Though I’m not surprised that John Walton’s prediction came true, I am pleased. And I’ll go ahead and climb out on that same "limb" and tell you right now that we’ll be congratulating ourselves again in 2003. I’m sure of it.

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