NORTHSHORE AREA BOARD OF REALTORS

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What Is PAC?

Political Action Committee (PAC): political action committee organized by like-minded people for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates. ​PAC’s money must come from voluntary contributions rather than the member’s dues. Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) formed the first PAC in 1944 to raise money for re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Make A Difference In Your Business
Making an investment in the REALTORS® Political Action Committee is simple and easy. Here’s what you need to do: Call your local REALTOR® Association, the Northshore Area Board of Realtors, and tell them you want to have a voice in the democratic process by investing in RPAC today.

Why should I contribute?
RPAC is the muscle behind National Association of Realtors. RPAC represents over 400,000 politically active REALTORS that members of Congress want as their friends. Recent legislative and regulatory successes include:

  • The continued preservation of the mortgage interest deduction.
  • Tax relief benefiting the real estate industry. Improving federal mortgage programs, allowing more families to join the ranks of home ownership.
  • Eliminating burdensome regulations inhibiting environmental quality and healthy real estate markets.

All Realtors are thanked for their hard work and great grassroots support during the 2018 session.  Without you contacting legislators, attending political events and contributing to our very successful political action committee, we would not have been able to pass very meaningful real estate legislation.
 
Information on all pertinent bills that our state association was involved in during the 60 day session is attached and  posted to the LR website www.larealtors.org.  Thank you for your ongoing support

FAQs

100% of your contribution is used to elect pro-REALTOR candidates: 70% remains in the state to be used in state and local elections. 30% of your contribution will be forwarded to National RPAC to fund key U.S. House and Senate races. Until your state PAC reaches its RPAC goal 30% is sent to National RPAC to support federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441a; after the state PAC reaches its RPAC goal it may elect to retain your entire contribution for use in supporting state and local candidates. RPAC is neither a Republican nor a Democratic organization. Your contribution to RPAC is a vote for a pro-REALTOR Congress, regardless of political party.

RPAC remained the nation’s largest PAC in direct contributions to candidates with disbursements of over $4.8 million dollars to federal candidates and national political committees in the 2008 election cycle. RPAC also spent nearly $2 million on our Opportunity Race program that mobilized REALTORS® to be active in 92 congressional campaigns. RPAC also conducted 9 Independent Expenditures to educate the general public on pro-homeownership candidates. We spent over $1 million dollars on IEs in 2002 when the program began compared to $6.7 million this past election on this rapidly growing program to support 9 champions of REALTORS® who were locked in toss-up elections, of which 5 won. RPAC continued its bipartisan tradition, contributing 47% of its funds to Republicans and 53% to Democrats, which closely tracks the current makeup of Congress. RPAC was on the winning side of 94% of the 427 congressional and senate races we contributed to.

Much of RPAC’s success is due to the high degree of organization that characterizes the REALTORS® Political Action Committee at every level. Leading the National RPAC organization are the National RPAC Trustees. The Trustees establish and implement RPAC policy in accordance with the RPAC bylaws and NAR policy as established by the NAR Board of Directors. The Trustees are made up of REALTOR® volunteers from around the nation who are appointed by NAR leadership.

The dollar goal of the National RPAC, set by the National Trustees, is $15 per year per NAR member. At least $4.50 of that goes to the National RPAC. This goal is called a “fair share.” To ensure that all states contribute their fair share to the RPAC effort, a states’ annual goal is determined by the number of members in that state based on the October 31 membership report. The National RPAC recognition year runs from November 1 to October 31.

According to federal election law, RPAC can solicit only individual members — i.e., non-corporate members of NAR and their families. The term “members” means all individuals who currently satisfy the requirements for membership in any one of the local, state, and/or the National Association and regularly pay dues. Executive, administrative and management personnel of the local, state and/or national associations are also considered under the NAR constitution to be members of the association and are solicitable even though they may not pay association dues.

No. Contributions used for political purposes are not tax deductible on your federal income taxes.

Under the cooperative agreements in effect between the National RPAC and the state association’s Political Action Committees, the responsibility for making contributions to federal candidates is assigned to the national RPAC, while state association’s Political Action Committees decide which state and local candidates to support.

No. Under federal election law, the earmarking of contributions is illegal.

The National RPAC maintains voluntary cooperative agreements with the state association’s Political Action Committees. States retain 70% of the money they collect for the support of state and local candidates and send 30% to the national RPAC for use in supporting federal candidates. Until your state PAC reaches its RPAC goal 30% is sent to National RPAC to support federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441a; after the state PAC reaches its RPAC goal it may elect to retain your entire contribution for use in supporting state and local candidates.

Hard money has many restrictions on how it is raised and spent and must be fully reported to the Federal Election Commission. Hard money is raised from individuals, who can contribute up to $2,400 directly to a federal candidate per election and $5,000 to a Political Action Committee, like RPAC, per year. RPAC can contribute $5,000 to a federal candidate per election. RPAC can only accept money from individuals. Soft money is raised from corporations, unions and individuals. Federal candidates cannot accept soft money. Soft money is raised by party organizations, unions, corporations and associations. There are no limitations on the amount of soft money a corporation or individual can contribute, nor any limitation on the amount of soft money an organization can spend. Unlike RPAC, NAR can accept corporate contributions, which can then be used to communicate with our membership about a candidate through opportunity races or used for issue advocacy.
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Contact National RPAC at (202) 383-7509 and make a personal investment using a personal credit card or check payable to RPAC. You can also make your investment online. Your generous investment will go directly to the election campaigns of pro-REALTOR® candidates.

​Investments can also be made using a corporate account. If choosing this option, please make your corporate investment payable to NAR/PAF. You can also make your investment online. These funds will go towards the Opportunity Race Program that helps pro-REALTOR® candidates by getting REALTORS® active in political campaigns. Contributions are not deductible for income tax purposes.

​Contributions to RPAC are voluntary and are used for political purposes. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal and the National Association of REALTORS® or any of its state associations or local boards will not favor or disfavor any member because of the amount contributed. 70% of each contribution is used by your state PAC to support state and local political candidates. Until your state PAC reaches its RPAC goal 30% is sent to National RPAC to support federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441a; after the state PAC reaches its RPAC goal it may elect to retain your entire contribution for use in supporting state and local candidates.

Contact the NABOR Office for more information or www.NAR.REALTOR