This is the second article in a three part series.
The TBBA’s Advocacy Program is a three-pronged approach to
help ensure that your voice is heard with regards to relevant governmental
affairs, political action, and building industry issues. This issue of the Building Barometer
discusses political committees and how they work for our members.
TBBA’s political committees are organized to permit the
accumulation of contributions from consenting members’ dues to be used to fund
contributions to candidates and related political activities.
Each of our committees is organized as a
corporation controlled by TBBA’s Board of Directors, files reports with the
state elections division as a Committee of Continuous Existence (CCE), and is
considered by the Internal Revenue Service to be a 527 political organization.
They are corporations for basic business
liability purposes, file as CCEs in order to avoid reporting all members’ contributions from dues individually, and are 527 organizations the same as
every form of political committee. Our
political committees are for state and local candidates only, not for federal
candidates which are considered by NAHB.
Our committees are also set up to make contributions to candidates only,
not to conduct direct campaigns for or against candidates or issues.
As with individuals or organizations, our
contributions are limited to $500, although there is state legislation pending
this year to increase this amount as well as to abolish the CCEs used by
organizations like TBBA.
The TBBA has 3 political committees, one each in
Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties. The goal of these political
committees is to identify and support candidates that support the legislative
or executive goals of the building industry, or support those that are “pro-housing”. These future
decision makers must understand our perspective and how, if elected, their
decisions affect our industry and community.
Not every candidate values housing or what this industry means to the
local economy. Because some candidates are anti-growth, we have a
responsibility to educate our members on who we believe are the pro-growth,
pro-housing candidates, and our political committees helps us achieve these
goals.
During an election year, our political committees will spend
hours interviewing potential candidates, both to get to know them and to
educate them about our industry. We look both for the candidates who support
the builder community, and also look for electability. Though many qualified
and well-intentioned candidates vie for these positions of leadership, only a
few have the public appeal and the support to win on Election Day. Once our political committee selects
candidates, we can not only make a contribution to their campaign, but also
publicize our endorsement and even begin to go to work with them on their
campaigns. At best, we can establish
win-win relationships that will last for years to come, and continue
discussions with our winning candidates at Governmental Affairs forums and
issue-specific meetings.
If you are building in Hillsborough or Pasco County right now, you know that TBBA is working hard to ensure your projects are not being delayed. In Hillsborough, you can expect to get a single family building permit in less than 10 days. A “new policy” enacted by Hillsborough County last month eliminates your ability to call for time specific inspections – we know how that affects you and are we are working with Hillsborough to address the problem and remove this policy. Our goal is to help ensure the level of service is maintained, not reduced.
