February 1, 2004 - Joint Government
Affairs Update
IN THIS ISSUE........................
Proposed RESPA Legislation
Offshore Outsourcing Update
PAC News
Lobby Day 2004 Reminder
Proposed RESPA Legislation. As you already know from reading past Government Affairs Updates, ACSM
has been trying to work with RESPA to implement language into literature given
to homebuyers which would notify them of the benefits and value of having a
land survey done on their property prior to settlement. Although we drafted the
proposed language, and we met with RESPA staff regarding the proposed language,
RESPA does not seem to be willing to use our language. As a result of RESPA's inaction, ACSM recently drafted a proposed piece of
legislation which sets out the language in a way that we hope will one day
become law. Laurence Socci will take the draft of the proposed legislation to
Members of Congress to find a sponsor who will introduce it as a bill in the
House and the Senate.
Offshore Outsourcing Update. Offshore outsourcing has become a hot topic
recently. Listen to any of the Democrat candidates and they will tell you how
bad outsourcing is for the country. COFPAES has also been concerned about this
issue and plans to discuss it at the upcoming Spring Conference. ACSM is
concerned about what our members think about it. How does offshore outsourcing
affect your business? Does it affect your business at all? Drop an e-mail to
Laurence Socci and let him know your opinion. We will compile the responses and
talk about it at our Spring Conference in Nashville.
PAC News. The ACSM PAC has been pretty active lately. Though we've
always spent PAC funds conservatively, we were still able to make some
contributions to some key Members of Congress. As the 2004 elections season
starts to get moving, ACSM is starting to get requests for donations by the box
load. Everyday a new batch of requests for donations comes by phone, fax and
mail. Although we still have a fair amount of money in the PAC, we are passing
up donating to some important campaigns because we are trying to stretch our
limited funds as far as possible. Right now, our PAC auction is the only source
of revenue for the PAC. Participants in the PAC auction have always been more
than generous, and we appreciate it. But if we want to get our issues heard and
supported by Congress, then we have to support more Members now during election
season. In order to do that, we need to find another way to bring more money
into the PAC. In the next few weeks, you will hear about ideas we have to
generate more PAC revenue. For now, please think about any donation you would
like to make to the PAC Auction in Nashville. Your support will be greatly
appreciated!
Lobby Day 2004 Reminder. It's official! Lobby Day 2004 has been set for
Wednesday May 12 and Thursday, May 13, 2004. Here is your chance to come to
Washington and get your issues heard. If you participated in Lobby Day 2003,
then you know what a success it was. This year, however, will be a little
different. We are looking for 5 or so groups with 4 or 5 participants in each
group. That way, we will be able to cover more ground and see more people. Like
last year, we will have an issue briefing on Wednesday evening and then hit the
Hill bright and early on Thursday. We hope to wrap things up around 4 or 5 p.m.
on Thursday. If you are interested in participating, please contact Laurence
Socci. When you contact him, let him know who your Representative is so that we
can set you up with a meeting with them.