Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/704472
ICSC members speak out in D.C. ICSC members turned out in force for the 2016 Stra- tegic Leadership Summit, in Washington, D.C., last week. About 120 members from 34 states held meet- ings at roughly 250 Con- gressional offices to discuss key legislation affecting the retail real estate industry. "This event is critical to ICSC's advocacy efforts, because it puts our members face-to-face with Congress," said Betsy Laird, ICSC's se- nior vice president of global public policy. "There is noth- ing more powerful than our members telling their stories of how legislation impacts their day-to-day operations." Key talking points for the 114th Congress included e-fairness, tax reform and improvements to the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act. ICSC members were divided up by state of residence to meet with their elected repre- sentatives for discussing how the issues affect their busi- nesses. "E-fairness continues to be the top priority for the organization," Laird said. "As more and more states begin passing legislation, it is imperative that Congress act to solve this problem and level the playing field." A bipartisan e-fairness measure called the Market- place Fairness Act passed the Senate in 2013 but has been stalled in the House. Senate leaders promised to consider e-fairness legislation this year, but so far there have been no signals from the House, with very few legisla- tive days remaining. ICSC supports H.R. 2775, the Remote Transactions Parity Act; and S. 698, the Market- place Fairness Act of 2015. ICSC members lobbied Congress on the importance of passing narrowly targeted reforms to the Americans with Disabilities Act to help curb abuse by lawyers seek- ing out frequently trivial breaches by property owners in order to be able to sue. Last month the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 3765, the ADA Educa- tion and Reform Act of 2015, introduced by Congressman Ted Poe [R-Texas]. "This legislation closes the loophole in the federal law that has incentivized excessive law- suits, by essentially providing a notice-and-cure period and [by] requirement of specificity about the alleged ADA viola- tion — without taking away the right to pursue bad actors who ignore compliance," said Laird. It wasn't clear at press time whether the House would take up the bill. Potential tax reforms — as related to like-kind exchanges, business-interest deductions, depreciation and public-private partner- ship incentives — were also discussed with legislators. "The timing for this year's meeting was perfect because Congressmen Pat Tiberi [R-Ohio], Danny Davis [D-Ill.] and Peter Ros- kam [R-Ill.] just introduced H.R. 5539, the Preserv- ing Investment in Needy Neighborhoods Act, a bill explicitly extending a tax exemption for partnerships that receive capital contri- butions such as a TIF or other assistance from a mu- nicipality or other entity," Laird said. "Having our members on the Hill to promote the leg- islation and talk about the need to make this change to the IRS code," she said, "will make a difference in building support." S C T 18 S C T / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 T H E C O M M O N A R E A GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Elizabeth Holland (left) with strategist Donna Brazile and Haley Barbour, former governor of Mississippi (Left to right): Susan Hays and Don Moseley with a staffer for Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) (Left to right): Joshua Sanders and Yaromir Steiner with Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and staffer (Left to right): Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) with Rex Hime and Stephen Stwora-Hail