committees in both the House and the Senate. This change in leadership
could impact the outcome of legislation to reform the Government
Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), address new environmental proposals
from the Administration and reform the nation’s tax code. With status
quo control remaining in the House of Representatives, the environment
for legislative issues does not change much.
Several unresolved issues for the 113th Congress remain to be addressed before it shuts its doors on Dec. 11. These include reauthorizing
the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), extending expiring temporary tax provisions, passing a 2015 budget particularly that portion
belonging to HUD, and addressing a proposed cut in the housing
subsidy for military service members. There are varying levels of progress on these issues and with time ticking by, it is likely that the Congress
will try and combine all of these into a single “omnibus” package. Senate Republicans would like to clear the decks of issues like TRIA and
tax extenders so they can focus on other priority issues. Further complicating matters is the President’s executive order on immigration
which could scuttle budget negotiations. As usual, the lame duck session
is chaotic and complicated.
STATE ELECTIONS UPDATE
In keeping with the trend in Congressional elections, the Republican Party also saw huge gains at the state level. Before Election Day,
the partisan split of governors was 29 Republicans to 21 Democrats.
Now after elections in 36 states, Republicans will hold gubernatorial
seats in 31 states while Democrats will hold gubernatorial seats in 17
states. Notably, Republicans won elections in some traditionally Democratic states including Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts.
In Alaska, an independent candidate has been elected governor and
results are still pending in Vermont. Current Vermont Gov. Peter
Shumlin (D) failed to secure 50 percent of the vote, and now the Vermont Legislature will pick the governor in January. The Vermont
Legislature is controlled by the Democratic Party.
Other notable governor races:
»»
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett (R) lost to Democratic
challenger Tom Wolf, making Corbett the only Republican
incumbent governor to lose in 2014.
»»
Greg Abbott (R), who currently serves as the Texas Attorney
General, has been elected as the governor of Texas. The seat
was open when Gov. Rick Perry (R) chose not to run again.
»»
Other first-time governors include Pete Ricketts (R) in Nebraska, Doug Ducey (R) in Arizona and Gina Raimondo (D)
in Rhode Island.
State legislatures also rode the red wave on election night. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), prior to
the elections, 27 state legislatures were under Republican control in
both upper and lower chambers; 19 states were under Democratic
control in both chambers, and three states were split.
In 2015, Republicans will now control both house and senate
chambers in 30 states, while Democrats will hold both chambers in 11.
Eight states will have split legislatures and Nebraska is a unicameral
legislature.
As governors begin to set their agendas for 2015 and state legislators
begin filing bills, it’s still too early to tell what the impact of these
midterm elections will have on the apartment industry. Please continue to look for future news on state and local proposals from the NAA
Government Affairs staff in the Apartment Advocate and the State
and Local Policy Outlook.
For more Apartment Advocate, please visit www.naahq.org
www.aamdhq.org
JANUARY 2015 • TRENDS | 35