THE GAD REPORT. Do You Have The App? RPAC AUCTION RAISES $7,622!! NEXT STEPS FOR HAYWARD SCHOOLS REALTORS ASSOCIATION OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN

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1 REALTORS ASSOCIATION OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN THE GAD REPORT VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 MARCH, 2016 RPAC AUCTION RAISES $7,622!! Our first RPAC auction was a huge success, thanks in part to those who attended, donated a gift for the auction or invested in a sponsorship. Jerry Andrews of Andrews Auction Service took care of the business portion of the evening, auctioning off everything from an old lockbox to a stay at a northern Wisconsin cabin. And a big thanks to GAD Intern Beau Krueger for all his work!! Gift certificates, beer, wine and spirits, golf and many gift baskets all were auctioned off and when the final tally was added, we raised $7,622. Helping to offset the costs of the event was a $1,000 grant from NAR. Thanks to everyone who participated in the evening!! Do You Have The App? Text App to and remember to login!! RPAC A UCTION RAISES $7622 CUTS TO HAYWARD SCHOOLS? 1 1 SEAN DUFFY S OPPONENT 2 NEXT STEPS FOR HAYWARD SCHOOLS The Hayward school board is moving ahead with plans to look at program and position cuts worth $350,000 at their meeting on April 18. That is in response to the failed referendum held on February 16th. Voters in the school district voted 1267 to 1060 against increasing the district s tax levy to continue to fund various district teaching positions and updates to the districts infrastructure. One area that may be used to balance the budget would be to draw money out of the general fund, leaving the district with a very small fund balance, while a second idea would be to restructure and retry another referendum in the district at a later date. L IABILITY LAW SIGNED INTO LAW HOWARD WHITE RUNS FOR 68TH A SSEMBLY OUT OF 50 3 LARGE DONOR COUNCIL 5

2 PAGE 2 THE GAD REPORT REALTOR LIABILITY LAW SIGNED At REALTOR & Government Day on March 2, Gov. Scott Walker signed into law legislation that provides liability protection for real estate licensees by creating a two-year statute of limitations on lawsuits. Prior to the new law, Wisconsin real estate licensees were subject to a six-year statute of limitations related to written contracts. In recent years, the number of lawsuits filed against real estate licensees and companies This legislation recognizes that the more time that passes from the close of the transaction, the burden should be higher to prove the responsibility and knowledge on the parties.there are several important provisions in the new legislation that include the two-year statute of limitation on REALTOR liability. Click here to read the WRA memo.this is a big victory for REALTORS and another reminder why it's important for the WRA and REALTORS to be actively involved in advocacy THE 2016 RPAC GOAL: $44,000 SECOND OPPONENT DECLARED FOR 91ST ASSEMBLY 24 year old Shawn Ewig of Eau Claire is the second to file with the Government Accountability Board to run for the 91st Assembly seat currently held by attorney Dana Wachs. Bill Ingram of Durand filed papers last year to run, and would have to move into the 91st should he win election. As of now, there would be a Republican primary held in August. Ewig wants to insure that education cuts are reversed and more teachers are hired to give students more one-on-one time. In his press release, Ewig stated that he also wants fewer cuts for local police departments and the UW system as a whole in order to keep more talent in Wisconsin. QUISLER ANNOUNCES FOR 7TH CD After the first candidate for Congressman Sean Duffy s 7th Congressional seat dropped out, due in part to his inability to raise significant amounts of money to be competitive, comes word of a new opponent, who has even less campaign cash. None. ey on hand, but that will not deter the Wausau resident from mounting a campaign for Duffy s Congressional seat. Like many who get into politics, Quisler wants to be a part of public service, but realizes that raising millions of dollars in campaign cash will not happen, so she will turn to more unconventional ways to Ethel Quisler has no monget her message out. She ll need to. Two of the things lacking in her campaign office are a computer and a cell phone. She has neither, but she is prepared to ask the residents of the 7th District what is important to them and ways that she can support those views in Washington DC.

3 VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 PAGE 3 FORMER COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES FOR 68TH ASSEMBLY For four years, Howard White served as President of the Eau Claire City Council. Now, he s looking to take his talents to Madison as a member of the Legislature. Attorney Howard White announced his candidacy for the 68th Assembly seat held by incumbent Kathy Bernier of Lake Hallie. White is concerned about all the cuts to education, particularly in K-12 and the UW system, as well as what he sees as a lack of local control, with more power going to Madison, and less locally. White ran for the Assembly in the 93rd district in 2004, but lost in the Democratic primary that year. White currently serves as the treasurer for the Confluence project, which has raised over $13 million, with the project breaking ground later this year. RPAC FUNDRAISING LAUNCHED FOR 2016 The 2016 RPAC fundraising season officially has begun, and it s off to a great start. As you saw on Page 1, our first RPAC auction raised over $7600. Along with early commitments from several of our members, we are well on our way to making our goal of $44,000. In order to do that, and according to the investment plan we shared with WRA. We have a multipronged approach to success. First, we are going to retain all 31 of last year s Large Donor Council members. Second, we are going to attract a minimum of five new LDC s. (As of this writing, we already have three for 2016). Next, we are going to greatly expand involvement in the Direct Giver program, where a minimum investment of $100 is required and can be used to support any candidate for any office. But we need you to do your part. 49 OUT OF 50.SO FAR Your team at WRA has studied, written, researched, proposed, lobbied, talked and opined a number of bills this legislative session, to date, 49 of 50 have passed this session, including: AB456, update to Chapter 452 of the statutes to address a number of issues impacting the real estate industry. AB 582, which better protects private property rights by improving at the state and local level. AB568 modifies current landlord-tenant law to better protect the interests of both parties. AB600 makes a number of changes to the statutes that regulates activities near navi- gable waterways. All of these measures have passed and are awaiting the Governor s signature. The final bill, the right to rent bill cleared the Assembly and Senate committees and will be voted on in the Senate on March 15. Should it pass, it s 50 for 50. RETAIN THE 31 HAS BEGUN

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5 Last month, I attended the 15th Annual New Partners For Smart Growth conference in Portland, Oregon. I had the opportunity to not only learn much more about Smart Growth and all of its components, but had the opportunity to network with NAR staff and leaders from across the country discussing needs for growth and development in cities and towns, and how best to partner together to accomplish those goals. With over 1300 in attendance, I came home with a wealth of information to use for our communities within the Association and many new contacts.

6 Ask Bruce how to charge your investment at $100 per month from March to December ($300 to RPAC, $700 to Direct Giver with Visa or Mastercard!!

7 REALTORS A SSOCIATION OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN 1903 Keith Street Suite #3 Eau Claire, WI Phone: home office/text Phone: board office bruce@ranww.org Bruce King Government Affairs Director WWW. R AN WW. ORG The REALTORS Association of Northwestern Wisconsin is the largest association in terms of area, stretching from Lake Pepin to the south all the way to Cable in Bayfield County to the north. We are the fourth largest of the 20 Associations in terms of membership. Your Association covers 270 units of local government, monitoring a wide variety of issues that can and do affect you. In addition to local government, your GAD also monitor issues at the state and national level that will have a direct or indirect impact on housing and the industry, as well as legislation that can affect the consumer. Your Government Affairs Director works with members and affiliates to raise investment dollars for RPAC that help to support elected officials that support your business. RANWW is one of only three REALTOR Association s in Wisconsin that have their own PAC, which was started 37 years ago to support candidates at the local and state level. We have added a Facebook page, called The GADabouts, that aims to keep you up to date on political issues that will affect your business. Your GAD also produces a periodic government affairs program posted on our YouTube channel, RANWWTV!! OUR MISSION IS TO HELP OUR MEMBERS BE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN REAL ESTATE MY THOUGHTS BY BRUCE KING Our first RPAC auction was a huge success. Thanks to the sponsors, those who donated a gift or two for the auction, Jerry Andrews and his team for providing his skilled auction services, and our GAD intern Beau Krueger for all of his hard work to pull the evening off. We raised over $7600, secured a couple of new Large Donor Council members to boot, and raised our total investment for 2016 to nearly $10,000, well on our way to our $44,000 goal. I ve been asked if there is a way to set up a credit card to take automatic withdraw- als of RPAC investments. The answer is yes. We can set up an automatic payment on your Visa or Mastercard (as long as it s a personal card and not a corporate card. We can also set it up for automatic withdrawls on your debit card). Right now, you can do $100 a month for ten consecutive months, with the first three payments going to RPAC and the last seven going to Direct Giver, giving you a $1000 Sterling R designation by December. So, why can t I use Discover or American Express. WRA explains it this way. Simply put, the fees those card charge is much higher than Visa or Mastercard, and that in a nutshell is why they are not accepted. The plan is to ask our top 250 agents and brokers to participate in the Large Donor Council, the next 300 to participate in the Direct Giver program and the rest of our members and affiliates to participate with a $35 investment in RPAC. In addition to the $44,000 goal, is a 50% participation goal. We did nearly 40% last year, so these are goals that we can certainly hit. I ll need your help to do it.