In This Issue
- REALTORS® Legislative Meetings: Key advocacy staff meetings, receptions and orientation opportunities in Washington.
- 2026 GAD Institute: Registration is now open for Columbus, including GADs Night Out, Crew match bonus event and GADs Give Back.
- Midyear State Legislative Survey: NAR Advocacy will launch its 2026 state issue survey the week of May 18.
- Training & Events: Upcoming All-GAD Call, office hours and advocacy trainings open for registration.
- Advocacy Scoop: New episode explores the six forces shaping commercial real estate policy and transactions.
Key Dates
- May 20, 12 PM CT: NXT Registration Opens
- May 27, 3 PM ET: All-GAD Call (RPR & Economic Reports Updates)
- May 29: RPAC Transmittal Deadline for RLM Recognition
- June 2, 2 PM ET: June is Homeownership Month Webinar
- June 13 – 18: REALTORS® Legislative Meetings (Washington D.C.)
- June 24: Deadline to Apply for NAR Committee
- July 1: GAD Advisory Group Applications Open
Top Takeaways
2026 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings
All state and local advocacy association staff are invited to attend the following meetings at RLM:
- Sunday, June 14
- 1:00 – 2:00 PM: GAD Briefing on Federal Issues
- Monday, June 15
- 9:00 – 11:30 AM: New GAD Advocacy Orientation (Register Here)
- 1:30 – 2:30 PM: GAD Meeting
- 2:30 – 3:30 PM: State/Local Breakouts (Submit Discussion Topics)
- NEW DATE & TIME! 7:00 – 9:00 PM: GAD Reception (RSVP Here)
2026 GAD Institute Registration Open
The countdown to Columbus is officially on!
Join fellow state and local advocacy professionals July 21-23, 2026, in Columbus, OH for the 2026 GAD Institute, three days of professional development, policy discussion and peer-to-peer collaboration.
GADs Night Out and Bonus Event
Make plans to join your fellow GADs for GADs Night Out on Wed, July 22 at Jackie O’s.
Attendees can also add a bonus event ticket to join the group at a Columbus Crew match for just $10.
GADs Give Back
Each year, the Government Affairs Directors (GAD) community gathers at GAD Institute to advance housing policy and strengthen the collective impact of advocacy. We also take that opportunity to give back to the host community in a meaningful way.
For 2026, we are partnering with Homes for Families, a Columbus-based nonprofit that has spent the past 40 years helping families move from housing instability to long-term independence which are outcomes that closely align with our advocacy work.
If your association is interested in participating, please see the FAQ for more details on the GADs Gives Back program and how contributions are used.
NAR’s Midyear State Legislative Survey
NAR Advocacy will launch its midyear state legislative survey during the week of May 18th. This survey will target state GADs and seeks to understand the issues most impacting state associations in their 2026 state legislative sessions.
Questions? Contact Drew Myers.
Training & Events
All-GAD Call | May , 3 PM ET
Topic: RPR & Economic Reports
Speaker: Valerie Horne, VP, Training & Programs, RPR
Missed a call?
Recaps are posted in the GAD Hub.
Office Hours & Trainings
- ✉️Aristotle 360 System Overview for PAC Managers (Semimonthly)
- 🔗Aristotle 360: Calls for Action Training (Monthly)
- 🔗Advocacy Everywhere Office Hours: Broker Involvement Program, CFAs, and REALTOR(R) Party Mobile Alerts
- 🔗Community Development Advocacy Planning Sessions (Weekly)
- 🔗RPAC Office Hours (Monthly)
Six Forces Shaping Commercial Real Estate Today
Why it matters: Tax policy, insurance costs, construction expenses, energy policy, and rent control measures continue to shape today’s commercial real estate market.
The latest: Shannon and Patrick break down the federal, state, and local advocacy issues impacting CRE transactions, development, and investment nationwide.
Compliance Corner
Why Compliance Matters
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has imposed civil penalties against corporate PACs for impermissible solicitations outside a PAC’s solicitable class.
Here is an example of when a trade association tried to be too creative and wound up with a civil penalty from the FEC.
What Issue: The FEC found that the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and its PAC improperly solicited contributions from golf club members who were not bona fide AHLA members at the time of solicitation.
What happened: AHLA hosted an annual golf tournament to benefit its PAC. To increase participation, AHLA and a corporate member golf club invited golf club members to participate even though those individuals were not within AHLA’s solicitable class. To address this issue, AHLA required individuals to pay a $50 registration fee (designated as a contribution to the PAC) and, upon arrival at the event, complete an AHLA membership form in exchange for a complimentary 3-month membership. The following year, AHLA repeated this practice and distributed an email stating that golf club members were required to join AHLA in order to participate in the PAC golf tournament.
What the FEC said: The FEC determined that these invitations constituted impermissible solicitations because the golf club members were not bona fide members of AHLA at the time the solicitations were made. The Commission further emphasized that trade associations may not simultaneously invite individuals to join and solicit PAC contributions. Individuals must first be bona fide members before any PAC solicitation occurs.
Bottom line: PAC solicitations must remain within a PAC’s authorized solicitable class from the start of the solicitation process.
Questions? Contact Darby Thorne, Director of Political Compliance.
Compliance Corner is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any matter.
RPAC Updates
2026 RPAC Transmittal Deadlines
Add the deadlines to your calendar now.
Includes:
- Recommended transfer dates
- Mail timelines
- Processing timeframes
RPAC Office Hours
Your time to:
- Ask questions
- Connect with RPAC staff and Aristotle experts
- Leave with clear next steps
RPAC Hall of Fame Announcement
The 2026 RPAC Hall of Fame Ceremony will take place:
- June 15, 2026
- 5:30–7:30 PM
- Walter E. Washington Convention Center
NAR Washington Report
- NAR Opposes Copyright Office Fee Increases
- NAR Asks Court to File Amicus Brief Supporting Housing Providers Challenging New York’s Rent Stabilization Law
- NAR Comments on Proposed Independent Contractor Rule
- House Energy & Commerce Working Group Introduces National Data Privacy Legislation
- NAR Comments on Increased Clarity of Appraiser Guidance While Using AI
- NAR Submits Comment to Fed on Impacts of GSE Reform
- Industry Weighs In on HUD’s Proposed Mixed-Status Rule
- NAR Calls on Congress to Fund Essential Housing Programs in FY 2027
- HUD Issues “Dear Colleague” Letter on School and Crime Data
- FHFA and FHA Announce Plans to Modernize Credit Scoring Models
- Congress Approves Several Broadband Measures
- NAR Files Amicus Brief Opposing Massachusetts Statewide Rent Control Ballot Measure
- EPA Updates Lead Hazard Pamphlet
- NAR Supports Property Owners in Renewed Challenge to Unconstitutional Exactions
- HUD Announces Housing Counseling Funding with New Limits to Eligible Activities
Resources & Research
June is Homeownership Month: REALTOR®-Led Solutions in Action
June 2, 2026 | 2:00 PM ET
Join a solutions-focused webinar on how REALTORS® are expanding access to homeownership. Learn how advocacy, partnerships, and targeted resources are turning barriers into pathways and gain practical strategies to drive impact in your community. Register here.
Questions? Christine Windle.
New Advocacy Everywhere Campaign Types Launch
What’s new: Advocacy Everywhere now includes additional tools to help associations mobilize members in the way that supports your unique strategy.
The options:
- Calls for Action (CFA): Mobilize REALTORS® and/or consumers to contact lawmakers.
- Advocacy Activity Emails: Share public comment opportunities, encourage attendance at legislative meetings or educate your members on a policy issue before launching a CFA.
- Petitions: Collect member signatures to demonstrate grassroots support on key issues.
- Calls for Information (CFI): Gather stories and local examples to strengthen advocacy efforts and policy strategy.
Reminder: These tools are for REALTOR®-facing campaigns.
Questions? Contact Jami Sims.
Research Tools
REALTOR® Party Success Stories
From the Chair
Hi GAD Nation,
Registration for GAD Institute is officially open, which means it is time to secure your spot, book your travel, and prepare for one of the best weeks of the year. GAD Institute is where strategy, problem-solving, and a little bit of therapy disguised as policy conversations all come together.
We have a strong lineup ahead, starting with our All-GAD Call in May, where we will cover RPR and new economic report features that can help staff better tell the housing story with data. If you have ever wanted stronger numbers to back up your argument to that skeptical elected, this is one you do not want to miss.
Our RLM meetings continue to be an important space for sharing what is happening on the ground across the country, and the GAD Federal Briefing will give us direct insight from the NAR Lobby Team on what is happening on Capitol Hill. Sometimes it feels like we need a decoder ring to understanding the federal nuances of the process, so thankfully they will help with that.
If you are joining us in Washington, please make sure to RSVP for the Sunday night reception on June 14. It is one of the best opportunities to reconnect, meet new GADs, and remind ourselves that the people we text in policy panic are actually real humans.
For our newer members, New GAD Orientation will take place June 15 from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. This is one of the best investments you can make early on because no one should have to learn RPAC rules or committee structure entirely through trial and error.
The full GAD Meeting and our State and Local breakouts will also take place June 15. These conversations are where some of the best ideas come from because no one understands your chaos quite like another GAD.
Please make plans to attend, stay engaged, and continue sharing what you are seeing in your markets. The strength of this group has always been our willingness to help each other solve problems, share wins, and vent.
Looking forward to seeing everyone soon. Stay strong and keep taking over one policy fight at a time.
Neeley Erickson
815.543.7147
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