FAA Members Meet with Legislators to Advocate on Key Priorities

About 150 FAA members met with 86 legislators and legislative aides on Feb. 17 and 18 in Tallahassee to talk about funding for affordable housing and an expansion of the work apartment maintenance technicians are allowed to perform. The priorities were identified during a legislative platform workshop attended by FAA leaders, members, and staff in December.

The Legislative Days event began with a welcome reception Tuesday, Feb. 17, sponsored by Line1 Communications, at which lobbyist Ron Book spoke about issues facing the legislators this session, including the potential impact on affordable housing funds of constitutional Amendment One. At a dinner sponsored by iLS network, Jaimie Ross, president of the Florida Housing Coalition, offered additional detail about the affordable housing issue. In November, voters approved Amendment One, which directs a portion of documentary stamp taxes to environmental causes. Documentary stamp taxes also fund the Sadowski Trust Fund, which is using for affordable housing programs.

Attorney Richard Herring of Capital Analytics also spoke at the dinner and explained the FAA's position advocating greater scope of work allowed by apartment maintenance staff. Workers who hold a Certificate for Apartment Maintenance Technicians would be permitted to perform more basic maintenance tasks than they are currently.

The next day, members from all of FAA's 11 local affiliates dispersed to meet with senators, representatives, and legislative staff for their regions. In addition to explaining FAA's position, members provided written materials the legislators and staffers can refer to as they address the issues in committee meetings and the session that begins in March.

Read more about Legislative Days in the spring issue of Multifamily Florida magazine, which also includes photos of the event. Additional photos are shared on FAA's Facebook page and Twitter feed.

FAA is a federation of 11 local affiliates, representing over 490,000 apartment homes in Florida. Both community and associate members in good standing of a local affiliate are automatically memebers of FAA and NAA.