Apartment Trends Magazine April 2018 | Page 51

CAPITOL RECAP NANCY BURKE, VP OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS AAMD/CAA Visits with Congressional Delegates at NAA's Advocate Conference AAMD and CAA members attended the National Apartment Association’s 2018 Advocate Conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss pertinent industry issues with our Colorado Congressional delegates and their staff. The annual conference provides an opportunity to lobby on current legislative issues on the federal level to our policymakers. Being active constituents and educating our Congressmen on the multifamily housing industry is critical to create important policy decisions. Our members lobbied on Capitol Hill to discuss recent marketplace dynamics in multifamily rental housing. This year they highlighted concerns which centered on the reauthorization of funding the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). While flooding continues to be the most common natural disaster in the United States, the CAA President Rocky Sundling and AAMD President-Elect Mike Holt Luke Miller, Mike Holt, Pat Hutchison and Scott Kirkwood meet with Congressman Ed Perlmutter. NFIP is a critical risk management tool for multifamily housing to not only protect properties, but to maintain affordable coverage and manage the increasing costs of providing housing. Long-term funding is within reach and we hope to see that come to fruition. Litigation driven by financial gain, not the improvements to access for the disabled, is a continued trend and policymakers heard the Apartment Association’s position on this. Although the rental housing industry supports the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act, it is fully committed to creating communities that are accessible to people with disabilities, www.aamdhq.org and our industry encourages policymakers to support legislation that offers businesses a time to cure any alleged ADA deficiency prior to the initiation of a lawsuit which would ultimately create a disincentive for complaints motivated by financial gain. These issues, along with others, spurred dynamic conversation with our elected officials from Colorado. For more information on how you can participate in next year’s Advocate Conference, please contact the Government Affairs Department of the Association at 303-329-3300. APRIL 2018 TRENDS | 49