BOMA Advances Key Policy Priorities on Capitol Hill

BOMA on Capitol Hill

At this year’s BOMA International National Issues Conference, BOMA/GLA joined advocates from across the country to meet with dozens of members of Congress to discuss issues impacting the commercial real estate industry.

The 2022 policy priorities advanced on Capitol Hill were BOMA International’s carbon reduction priorities; workforce development and the establishment of a Commercial Real Estate Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program through the U.S. Department of Labor; and the Green Energy Loan Enhancement Act, authored by Congressman Jason Crow (D-Colo.).

We thank everyone for these meaningful conversations with other BOMA associations and our public officials, and believe this will serve as a key starting point for the coming months.

BOMA/GLA's delegation met with Representatives Linda Sanchez and Mike Garcia, and staff from the offices of Representatives Adam Schiff, Judy Chu, Alan Lowenthal, and Karen Bass.

Annual Issues Survey Reveals Trending Advocacy Issues

The Winter Business Meeting & National Issues Conference marked the release of the annual State and Local Issues Survey results. Each BOMA local association was asked to identify topics they’ve worked on over the past year, providing insight into trending advocacy issues and helping to plan the year ahead.

Following is a brief summary of the findings:

• For a second year, we’ve asked about advocacy related to COVID, and not surprisingly, about three-quarters of local associations report working on reopening and occupancy policies (75%), as well as related mandates on building operations (72%). Liability protections, while not scoring quite as high as 2020, was still reported by more than half (53%).
• Financial challenges are down slightly across the board compared to the year before, but there are still significantly high results for commercial rent taxes (33%), sales taxes on services (33%), real estate transfer taxes (31%) and infrastructure fees (28%).
• Under the broad umbrella of “property access” policies, homelessness finished on top of the group for the first time (72%), confirming its position as an emerging priority. Crimes and safety were also identified by a majority (64%), followed by parking and transit (33%) and dockless bikes and scooters (33%).
• On sustainability mandates, energy benchmarking topped the list as usual, down slightly from the year before, but still high (69%). One of the takeaways from the survey is that carbon/climate policies finished closely behind (64%), jumping up from 45% the year prior and demonstrating that the issue is considerably widespread.

BOMA Invests in New Advocacy Tool

BOMA International introduced a new advocacy tool during the “Engaging Congress” session called Capitol Canary, formerly known as Phone2Action. Capitol Canary will allow BOMA International, as well as our state and local associations, to build out robust and influential advocacy campaigns.

Capitol Canary is the number one grassroots software used to engage and mobilize key stakeholders with best-in-class mobile- and email-driven advocacy. Capitol Canary provides a suite of revolutionary advocacy tools to engage and mobilize key stakeholders to take action on vital policy issues.

In 2021, more than 1,200 organizations, Fortune 100 companies and trade associations took part in more than 14,500 campaigns, educating lawmakers on key issues to their membership. More than 15.6 million advocates took more than 25 million actions on policy priorities across federal, state, and local levels.

We believe this tool is just the beginning of a new chapter in how BOMA International and our state and local associations can condition the political environment and advocate on behalf of the commercial real estate industry.

Support the Green Energy Loan Enhancement Act

BOMA International’s current campaign is urging members of Congress to co-sponsor the Green Energy Loan Enhancement Act as we work to introduce the legislation and bring it up for a hearing in the House Small Business Committee. The law would support small businesses in creating energy-efficient investments The program incentivizes energy-efficient investments by allowing businesses who are looking to make such investments to qualify for a larger loan.

To participate in the current campaign, text “BOMA” to 52886.