Broker Involvement and Federal Advocacy

Massachusetts REALTORS® engage in advocacy on the federal level.  This was exhibited with MAR’s promotion of the homebuyer tax credit and Massachusetts REALTORS® helping to convince Congress to extend the tax credit.  An important part of federal advocacy is the Call for Action emails that are sent from members to their Senators and Representatives in Congress on important votes that affect REALTORS®.  Brokers can get involved to make sure more of their agents respond to Calls for Action by signing up for the Broker Involvement Program, which just takes a few minutes to join.  You can see the list of Brokers already participating in Massachusetts, here. 

Federal Political Coordinators (FPCs) are the MAR members who are the key contacts for each member of Congress and the Senate in the Massachusetts delegation.  A list of the Massachusetts delegation and their FPCs is at the bottom of this page.  The responsibilities of FPCs are to:

Work with MAR and NAR to effectively respond to “Calls-for-Action” using NAR’s online Action Center http://realtoractioncenter.com/

Maintain and use e-mail account, give that address to MAR/NAR to use and update it with your Local Association if it changes.

Register to use NAR’s Online Action Center http://realtoractioncenter.com/

Attend at least one training event, sponsored by NAR every year.

Organize REALTOR® in-district meetings with legislators throughout the year.

Organize and attending NAR’s Hill Visit Day in Washington, D.C.  It is the FPC’s responsibility to arrange the meeting with MAR staff, notify MAR and the other local associations of its time and location, attend the Issues Briefing beforehand and lead the delegation to the meeting.

Act as the principal REALTOR® liaison between the local Association(s), MAR, NAR and members of Congress.

Assemble and coordinating an FPC team, consisting of REALTORS® with varied professional specialties. MAR and NAR staff will assist by providing training and helping with recruitment.

Assure that Contact Team Members respond to Calls-for-Action.

Organize at least one Contact Team meeting a year.

Report to MAR/NAR any activities between the elected official and REALTORS® within the state using the NAR Action Center Field Reports – at least four field reports should be submitted yearly.

Establish and maintain a good working relationship with the Senator or Representative and his or her staff.

Communicate with the Senator’s or Representative's key staff on issues of importance to REALTORS®.

Present, whenever possible, REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) contribution checks to the Senator or Representative, and file a report with NAR about the check presentation.

Attend a reception or other fundraiser in the state for the Senator or Representative.  Up to $1000 per election cycle is available from RPAC for use by FPCs for in-state fundraisers.

Help coordinate RPAC Opportunity Race for your Member of Congress, if necessary.

Organize a grassroots event for your legislator at least once a year.

Massachusetts Congressional Delegation and REALTOR® Federal Political Coordinators:

Senator: John Kerry

Judy Moore

Senator: Scott Brown

Corinne Fitzgerald

Congressman: Edward Markey

Mark Hutchinson

Congressman: Richard Neal

Kevin Sears

Congressman: William Delahunt

Richard Neitz

Congressman: Stephen Lynch

Joseph Delaney

Congressman: Michael Capuano

C. Brendan Noonan III

Congressman Barney Frank

David Wluka

Congressman: John Olver

Ernestine Sawicki

Congressman: John Tierney

Jeanette Tighe

Congresswoman Niki Tsongas

Dennis Page

Congressman James McGovern

Jane Fine