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April 24th, members from five commercial real estate organizations traveled to Madison to hear from legislative leaders and meet with legislators to discuss issues that are important to commercial real estate and economic development. The opportunity allowed members to thank legislators for the work to keep property taxes low, continue to push for regulatory reform, and support community and economic development efforts. In addition, attendees focused on specific issues in the budget including TIF, property tax assessment (Dark Store), transportation infrastructure projects, and the Manufacturing and Agriculture credit. See handout for more information. We heard from State Representative and Majority Leader Jim Steineke, representatives from State Representative Diane Hesselbein’s office, and Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan. Common themes from the speakers included acknowledgement that the REALTOR® efforts are largely bipartisan in nature and that we are in a legislative session of divided government with a democratic governor and republican legislature. Nevertheless, there was strong sense that there were areas of mutual focus including education and transportation. For more information about the day’s agenda, speakers and more, click HERE.