This week, hundreds of CAI members gather in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to reconnect with friends and colleagues from around the world at the 2026 CAI Annual Conference & Exposition: Community NOW. One of CAI’s core objectives is to advocate for public policy that creates the most ideal legislative and regulatory environments for community associations. There are more than 36 state legislative action committees, 600 volunteers, and 30 lobbyists advocating at the local, state, and federal levels to maintain the integrity of the community association housing model. CAI volunteers in Fort Lauderdale shared strategy, experiences, perspective, and leadership to take advocacy efforts to the next level. Here is a summary of these efforts.
RECOGNIZING VOLUNTEERS
Each year, CAI recognizes volunteers who contributed substantially to CAI’s mission of building better communities. In the area of government and public affairs, the following individuals were recognized:
Della Miller, CMCA, AMS, PCAM was recognized with the Excellence in Government & Public Affairs Award for her tremendous contributions to legislative advocacy in Missouri. Miller is a regular supporter of advocacy initiatives and has testified in Jefferson City on behalf of CAI many times. Her advocacy also includes volunteering her large-scale community to be the plaintiff in a CAI lawsuit combating a Missouri law limiting association autonomy. The lawsuit was successful due to Miller’s time and dedication to the litigation.
The Oregon Legislative Action Committee worked diligently to combat legislation and media negatively impacting the 585,000 Oregonians living in community associations and heavily raising funds to support their efforts. Its tremendous work earned the CAI Legislative Action Committee of the Year Award.
ADVOCACY UPDATE AND PRIORITIES
Government & Public Affairs Meeting. More than 150 people from more than 35 states attended the Government & Public Affairs meeting to discuss what is happening at the federal level and exchange information about state level efforts.
Future and past blogs include full legislative updates here. Here are highlights from the CAI Government & Public Affairs Committee meeting and the legislative and regulatory update session held at the conference presented by Phoebe E. Neseth, CAI vice president, government relations, public affairs and legal, and John Krueger, chair of the government & public affairs committee:
Federal Update. Work continues on priorities including access to mortgages for condominiums and housing cooperatives (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac requirements), delays and exemptions to the Corporate Transparency Act, HUD updates on assistance animals, urging condominium safety low interest government backed loan programs, pursuing movement of the Disaster Assistance Fairness Act, and preserving community association covenants from preemption by special interest groups. More information may be found here.
State Update. CAI is tracking more than 2,100 bills so far in 2026. Condominium safety continues to be discussed in many states with a focus on reserve study and funding mandates. Other issues include foreclosures and fining ability, board member education regulations, construction defect regulations, electric vehicle charging stations, access to solar devices, proposals restricting HOAs from prohibiting raising chickens and beekeeping, and ombudsman and HOA complaint offices.
LACs experienced a lot of success negotiating bill language, defeating legislation, and passing legislation that helps CAI members. Find more details on what’s happening in your state here.
Public Policy Development. CAI government affairs volunteers are in the process of updating our energy efficiency and sustainability public policy to ensure they are relevant for today’s environment. Brand-new public policies addressing ombudsperson offices and affordable housing in community associations also are in development. If you’re interested in getting involved in the review process, please contact CAI’s Government and Public Affairs team at government@caionline.org.
Advocacy Resources. CAI has an expansive toolkit of advocacy, public policy, and legislative resources available to CAI members and advocates. These resources include state and federal legislative tracking reports, grassroots outreach email and petition campaigns, state advocacy day plans of action, and tools to invite legislators to your community events. A presentation by CAI advocates, moderated by Phoebe Neseth, was presented to conference attendees spotlighting these member resources, and the CAI Government and Public Affairs Committee also presented these resources to CAI members and advocates during the annual in-person meeting.
SAVE THE DATE
Mark your calendar for next year’s conference. The 2027 CAI Annual Conference & Exposition: Community NOW will be held May 5-8 in Las Vegas.
