2012 Legislative Report

Facing a $500 million budget deficit, new House and Senate district boundaries, and a presidential and gubernatorial election this fall, the Missouri Legislature found itself mired in a variety of politically challenging issues this session. Most industries were forced to play defense just to keep the state programs important to their industry, and REALTORS® were no exception.

Coming off a failed Special Session last fall, there was little appetite or funding to craft a significant economic development bill. And although significant strides were made in our partnership with the home inspector industry, our efforts to register home inspectors in Missouri was ultimately unsuccessful. Below is a summary of the major pieces of legislation tracked by the Missouri Association of REALTORS® in 2012.

Defeated bills that would hurt the real estate industry:

• Historic and Low Income Housing Tax Credits were preserved at current levels despite a last-minute push in the Senate to reduce, cap, and/or eliminate these important housing programs. Ultimately, no changes were made.
  
  
• The “fair tax” was again debated in Jefferson City with multiple bills filed in both the House and Senate, but no significant action was taken. Also called a “consumption tax,” the fair tax would require real estate licensees to collect a sales tax on the service they provide. Additionally, MAR has been very active in a coalition to defeat a potential petition initiative campaign to place the “fair tax” on the November 2012 ballot.
  
  
• An attempt was made to amend real estate license law to exempt “any communication regarding real estate made by an unlicensed person, association, group, or corporation which is not proven by clear and convincing evidence to be false, misleading, or otherwise likely to cause a specific quantifiable injury to the information's recipient.” While it’s not clear the specific intent of this proposal, it is clear that this would be detrimental to real estate licensees in Missouri.
  
  
• A further proposed change to Missouri license law would have exempted information presented on internet websites built solely for the purpose of advertising real property from certain license law requirements. Again, a harmful proposal to your profession that was defeated by your Association’s lobbying efforts.

Approved bills that stimulated and protected the real estate industry:

• A bill approved by the Missouri Legislature now requires homeowners living on private streets to produce joint maintenance agreements for street maintenance. This seemingly benign requirement was necessary due to changes in federal law, and now allows property owners to secure long-term financing when purchasing or refinancing their home.
  
  
• Of importance to Kansas City was the approval of legislation allowing the city to establish a land bank. A city land bank will allow KCMO to acquire, hold and assemble larger plots of land for redevelopment purposes. This will be especially important and impactful in the urban core as Kansas City tries to deal with the more than 12,000 vacant properties within the city limits. Redeveloping these properties will help stabilize the community and the housing market.
  
  
• A seemingly small but important bill was approved establishing a statewide system that will allow state regulatory agencies (like the MO Real Estate Commission) to accept credit card payments on-site.

The state Legislature has adjourned, but your elected officials are hard at work on the campaign trail in preparation for the August primary and November general elections. If you see your state representative walking your neighborhood or speaking at a town hall meeting, introduce yourself. Let them know you’re a REALTOR® and that you and your Association are paying attention to how they vote on real estate issues. It’s that kind of grassroots strength of the REALTOR® Party that keeps our industry strong.

Questions? Contact Derek Ramsay at 913-266-5910 or derekr@kcrar.com.