Roll Up Your Sleeves And Get Involved/Texas Realtor

December 2000

Roll up your sleeves and get involved

There are many ways you can make a difference in the political process. If you’re asking why you should be involved, look no further than your bank account. The possibility of taxing commissions, changing the capital gains rate, and other actions that would affect real estate professionals requires constant vigilance and strong support. Last session, TAR defeated bills that would have added more than $600 dollars to the closing of every transaction. Here’s how you can protect your rights and fight for private property owners in Texas:

Legislative Liaison -- A powerful grassroots network, the Legislative Liaison Program uses e-mail to update members on legislative and political issues and events. Legislative liaisons receive one e-mail per week during the session and one per month at other times. The liaison’s role is to pass the information along to colleagues during weekly sales meetings. TAR’s goal is to have one liaison in every office in Texas. To volunteer as a legislative liaison, call the Governmental Affairs Department at 800/873-9155 or sign up online in the Governmental Affairs section of www.tar.org.

Realtor® Legislative Network (RLN) and Rapid Response System (RRS) -- These call-to-action programs update Realtors® on important issues and give the option of being transferred directly to their legislators. To join RLN, call 800/867-7631. To join RRS, call 800/873-9155.

TREPAC/Texas Association of Realtors® Political Action Committee -- In 2000, TREPAC surpassed the $1 million mark in contributions for the first time. TREPAC enables Texas Realtors® to pool their resources and help elect candidates who support real estate issues. To invest, send your fair-share check or credit-card charge of $20 or an amount of your choosing to your local association. You can also make donations online in the Governmental Affairs section of www.tar.org.

Realtor® Public Officials -- TAR recognizes the importance of working with Realtors® in public offices at all levels to address real estate issues. Local associations should submit the names and information about all members who are public officials (legislators, mayors, city council members, county commissioners, school board trustees, water/land board members, etc.) to TAR.

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Buyers & sellers, visit www.texasrealestate.com.
REALTORS®, visit www.tar.org.