RPAC
WHAT IS RPAC?
RPAC stands for the REALTOR® Political Action Committee. A PAC is a legal means by which interested individuals with common goals, like a trade association, ban together for the purposes of political action.
WHAT DOES RPAC DO?
As a real estate professional, RPAC is your PAC. It is the real estate industries vehicle for political success. REALTOR® volunteers raise voluntary contributions from other members across the state. These funds are then pooled together and contributed on a nonpartisan basis to candidates for public office who support housing and real estate interests.
70 cents of every dollar raised stays in Wisconsin for state and local elections, with the remaining 30 cents being transferred to the National Association of REALTORS® PAC for contributions to federal candidates.
FACTS ABOUT RPAC
1. All fundraising efforts and contributions to candidates are administered by a board of RPAC Trustees, representing each local board and all areas of the state. Decisions made by the Trustees are submitted to the WRA Board of Directors.
2. Funds are disbursed on a nonpartisan basis to Democrats and Republicans alike, based on promotion of the REALTORS® legislative agenda.
RPAC is one of the largest trade association PACs in the world, and the second largest PAC in Wisconsin. In the 2000 elections, RPAC had a 97% success rate in state legislative elections.
WHY SHOULD RPAC INTEREST YOU?
RPAC is a very important business partner to REALTORS® because it means legislative success. Up to 4,000 bills are introduced each session in the state legislature. Elections decide who will be voting on these 4,000 bills. RPAC helps elect the people who write the laws you and your business must live with. Through extensive research and ongoing monitoring, RPAC keeps you informed, involved, and influential in the legislative decisions that are important to you and your business.
WHAT WILL RPAC OR DIRECT GIVER CONTRIBUTIONS DO FOR YOU?
RPAC contributions draw attention to REALTOR® issues and help educate candidates on future issues important to the real estate industry. This is critical to your business. Just consider a few of these recent legislative issues of importance to our industry:
- Defeated attempts to eliminate mortgage interest deductions
- Defeated attempts to raise the transfer tax
- Defeated attempts to apply sales tax to real estate commissions
- Defeated attempts to apply sales tax to commercial leases
- Defeated mandates to restrict condominium developments
- Defeated attempts to expand municipal taxing authority
- Defeated attempts to create "closing agent" regulations
- Passed appraiser regulations to comply with federal mandates
- Passed numerous limits on REALTOR® liability for disclosures
- Passed regulation of home inspectors
- Passed commercial broker lien
These are just a few of the hundreds of bills lobbied by the WRA each session. WRA and RANW will continue to work on wetlands and other environmental issues, taxes, local land use proposals and other issues that impact the real estate industry.
TO CONTRIBUTE
To contribute to RPAC, send a personal check (made out to "RPAC") to:
WRA
4801 Forest Run Road, Suite 201
Madison, WI 53704-7337
Make checks payable to RPAC
**Cannot accept corporate checks