Community association leaders from across the country convened in Washington, D.C., for CAI’s 2019 Advocacy Summit on Oct. 23. More than 60 advocates met with key members of Congress to discuss our industry’s federal advocacy priorities.

With nearly 100 meetings in the Senate and House of Representatives, advocates engaged lawmakers on the following issues:

• Clarification on Emotional Support Animals – Our advocates urged members of Congress to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for clarification and guidance on emotional support animals amidst the increase in the misrepresentation of assistance animals in more than 20 states.
• Support the Disaster Assistance Equity Act – Our advocates shared the importance of all community association residents having the right to federal disaster response, recovery, and mitigation resources.
• Support the Protecting Local Authority Act – Our advocates urged members of Congress to co-sponsor and support H.R. 4232, the Protecting Local Authority Act. Community association owners must have the authority to determine what short-term rental policy is appropriate for their community. However, short-term rental platforms rely on the Communications Decency Act to evade compliance with state and local laws and community covenants. This bill would ensure that the Communications Decency Act does not shield short-term rental platforms from pre-existing laws and community rules.
• Support the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) – Our advocates urged Representatives to support H.R. 3167, the National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019, and Senators to support use of H.R. 3167 to negotiate a five-year NFIP renewal. Community association homeowners face the possibility of devastating under-insured or uninsured losses if NFIP’s statutory authority expires and a lapse ensues.

Our advocates—volunteer homeowner leaders, community association managers, and business partners—also hosted briefings with members of Congress and their staff to inform them about the community associations housing model and how they can support the 1 in 4 Americans living in common-interest communities.

“Events like Advocacy Summit are critical to allowing community association voices to be continuously heard by our lawmakers. While CAI advocates year-round for the more than 73.5 million Americans living and working in community associations, in-person meetings with legislators are a powerful experience and instrumental to moving the needle on our advocacy priorities. CAI thanks these advocates for their hard work, terrific advocacy, and endless energy throughout this year’s Advocacy Summit,” says Tom Skiba, CAE, chief executive officer at CAI.

To learn more about CAI’s advocacy efforts, visit www.caionline.org/advocacy.