REALTORS® Political Action Committee

What is RPAC?

Realtors® Political Action Committee (RPAC) is a standing committee of the National Association of Realtors® and the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® involved in providing funding for political candidates at the national, state, and local levels.

The goal of RPAC is to establish the real estate industry as a concerned and involved constituency that provides active support to political candidates who recognize the needs of Realtors® and property owners.

 

  • RPAC is non-partisan in its selection of candidates.
  • Positions on issues of each individual candidate, rather than a party label, determines whom RPAC supports.
  • RPAC gives us the opportunity to support candidates who support our issues.

Why is RPAC important?

Critical for Realtors® to invest in RPAC…

  • And, it really is an investment – Realtors® get a return on their investment!
  • It’s why we use this term rather than “contribution.”
  • Two key reasons why it’s critical for Realtors® to invest…

Investing in RPAC protects the future of the real estate industry and homeownership.

  • As one of the largest and most influential political action committees in the country, RPAC brings Realtors® together to give them a collective voice in legislative discussions.
  • RPAC represents the interests of Realtors® by working to pass or defeat legislation that affects their businesses.
  • RPAC ensures that homeowners and private property rights are represented at all levels of government.

RPAC investments help with lobbying and campaign efforts on behalf of Realtor® issues.

  • Your single investment in RPAC allows the Realtor® organizations to support candidates at the local, state and federal levels of government.
  • RPAC investments are used to elect pro-Realtor® candidates.
  • RPAC is not affiliated with any political party.
  • The RPAC trustees screen and support candidates who have supported Realtor®-related and private-property issues in the past.
  • Because of these reasons, we need all Realtors® to come together through RPAC to ensure that our advocacy efforts are successful.

How are funds collected?

Under agreements between local associations, PAR and NAR, fundraising for RPAC is conducted at the local level. Realtors® make investments that are transferred to the state RPAC. Of all the investments collected by PAR, 30% are transferred to the national RPAC to be used to make contributions to national Senators and Congressmen. The remaining 70% of investments stays within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for PAR’s RPAC to use to make contributions to state legislative candidates.

Local associations also have access to certain percentages of funds raised to use to make contributions to county and municipal level candidates (20% of all dollars until reach RPAC yearly goal; 50% dollars above goal)

How are funds distributed?

The PA-RPAC Trustees are charged with making decisions on funding for candidates at the state level. Typically, local associations will make recommendations to the PA-RPAC Trustees to support incumbent candidates. In the case of open legislative seats, PA-RPAC policy requires local associations to interview the candidates for the open seat prior to making any recommendation for support. This process is governed by a detailed “Candidate Screening Manual.”

Local associations also are required to conduct interviews in a race where there is interest in supporting a challenger against an incumbent.

How does RPAC work in practice?

To put everything into perspective, I want to talk about a recent legislative victory. Several years ago, the Pennsylvania legislature was considering a proposal to increase the realty transfer tax by 2%. Thanks to our lobbying efforts, coupled with all Realtors® working together through responding to Calls-to-Action and meetings with their elected officials, we were able to defeat this proposal. RPAC also was involved – we had the opportunity to support candidates who oppose increases in the realty transfer tax.

Question to ask meeting attendees:
How many of you would have lost a sale if the realty transfer tax was 4%? Would your buyers or sellers been able to pay that up front? Probably many of you. Thanks to your $15, $25, or $100 investment in RPAC, you were able to make sure that people could still afford to buy and sell homes. Now, which amount is higher? The $25 RPAC investment or the commission you did NOT lose? This is why we refer to RPAC as an “investment” – you really do get a return.

Why RPAC is critical...

Because of all these issues, and the many more we face at the federal, state, and local levels – we need RPAC working to protect our industry and homeowners. But, in order for RPAC to be successful, we need everyone working together and investing. Please consider investing today!

Issues we are watching for you:

State Issues

Issues vary. For most up-to-date information, visit PAR website (Capitol Report) at ⦁ www.parealtor.org/capitol-report. Please feel free to also contact PAR staff for updated issue talking points.

Federal Issues

Updated information on federal issues on website: ⦁ www.realtor.org/political-advocacy