CAPITOL RECAP
GREG BROWN | NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION
President Trump ; What Happens Next ?
What happens next ? What can we expect from a Trump White House ? And GOP majorities in both Houses of Congress ? With hindsight now available to us , I think managing expectations is important here .
Mr . Trump promised a lot of things on the campaign trail – the wall , mass deportations , a blockade against Muslims ( or some nuanced variation of that ), special prosecutor for Hillary Clinton , large-scale tax reform and shredded trade agreements . In the first week of his pre-administration , Mr . Trump has already softened his rhetoric on several of these items . The wall may turn out to be a fence or simply stronger bordersecurity measures , “ mass ” deportations will be focused on criminals ( something the Obama Administration does now ) and continued pursuit of the Clinton email scandal is fading from the priority list . Certainly many in the body politic will be pleased if these moderations hold ; however , others in the Trump coalition will not be happy . Time will tell if he sticks to his new position on these issues , especially with Steve Bannon , the voice of the altright in the President-elect ’ s ear .
What else happens in a Trump first term will also be heavily influenced by the Congress , of course . And also contrary to expectations , the GOP held its control of the Senate and took only glancing blows to its majority in the House . We have one-party , Republican rule for the first time since 2006 . While the control of the levers of power is not absolute ( recall the cloture rule in the Senate ), it is strong enough that we can expect a more streamlined path to passage for some legislative priorities – Obamacare repeal and regulatory reform , among others . For others , the path remains difficult but is more doable than was anticipated under a Clinton Administration – see tax reform .
For our part , the outlook remains mixed for the apartment industry . Regulatory reform and independent moves by the President-elect to pull back on regulations issued by the Obama team will likely address several areas of concern such as Waters of the United States , the overtime rule and IRS rules on valuation of family-owned businesses .
Bigger-picture issues such as the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , some areas of tax law and immigration reform have the potential to cut both ways for owners and operators of apartment homes . Thus , it is critically important that everyone get involved in NAA ’ s Advocacy365 program and commit to carrying the message of the apartment industry to their representatives in Congress .
Advocacy365 , as the name implies , is a yearround effort ; however , there is one particular day when the industry combines forces in Washington , D . C . to show our strength and press the case for our concerns . The 2017 NAA Capitol Conference and Lobby Day takes place on March 7 and 8 at the JW Marriott in downtown Washington . There will be a briefing on the issues , training on how to be an effective advocate and expert perspective on the new Administration from Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin . There are more than 50 new Representatives and Senators who need educating on our industry and our issues and 485 incumbents returning for a new Congress and Administration who want to know where we stand . Please join us .
This is an historic time for our country and we should take stock of that . There is also the reality of public policy concerns that must be our focus in the immediate term . I hope you all will join me in ensuring those concerns are addressed to the benefit of owners , operators and residents .
For more information on attending the 2017 Capitol Conference , please contact Nancy Burke or Luke Miller at 303-329-3300 .
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www . aamdhq . org JANUARY 2017 • TRENDS | 33