CARW Leaders participated in the NAR Mid-Year legislative meetings and hill visits in Mid-May. Ben Adank (SARA Investment Real Estate), Curt Pitzen (NAI MLG Commercial), Steve Pape (Founders 3 Real Estate Services, Adam Williquette (Anderson Commercial Group) and Tracy Johnson (CARW) joined members from State of Wisconsin REALTOR® associations and the WRA leadership to meet with Senator Ron Johnson, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Congressman Mike Gallagher, Congressman Glenn Grothman, Congressman Mark Pocan, Congressman Ron Kind, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner Congressman Paul Ryan and Congressman Sean Duffy. Issues discussed for commercial real estate include support for banking regulatory reform and Dodd-Frank reform, support for the EB-5 program and its connection to immigration reform, and support for the tax extender that would include the 179d federal energy tax deduction. The group also conveyed gratitude for the recent tax reform bill that has encouraged positive economic sentiment in Wisconsin and thus velocity in the commercial real estate markets. Members were able to visit the Speaker’s offices and balcony during the visit to Washington, D.C. At the convention, they attended a number of commercial forums that focused on operations of the commercial association and the connection to the national organization as well as a number of core standards updates. They also heard from Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist and spoke with George Ratiu, Director of Quantitative & Commercial Research, on the status of the commercial and capital markets. Leaders met with Catylist representatives and other associations using the platform. More information about the sessions will be in the upcoming issue of CARW Connector.