August 2005 Government Affairs Update

 

Lobby Day and ACSM Mapping Exhibit at Library of Congress

As you may already know, this year our Lobby Day will coincide with the opening of the ACSM Mapping Exhibit at the Library of Congress. The mapping exhibit, entitled Maps in Our Lives will open on September 13 at the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division foyer, James Madison Building, from 4:00 until 5:30. Immediately afterward, a reception will be held at the Capitol Hill Club. RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE FOR BOTH EVENTS.

Our Lobby Day will be held on September 15, with our pre-Lobby Day meeting on September 14. Participation in Lobby Day is greatly encouraged. This is one of the few times when the members of ACSM have the chance to speak directly with Members of Congress or their staff about the issues that are important to them. If you plan on joining us for Lobby Day, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can set up meetings for you.

 

ACSM PAC Auction Contributions

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

IT IS NOT TO EARLY TO START THINKING ABOUT THE ACSM/NSPS PAC AUCTION DURING THE 2006 ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Whether or not you are attending our ACSM Conference in Orlando, FL (April 21-26, 2006), please consider donating a tempting and novel gift (minimum value $25) for our Auction.  It is important for your national Political Action Committee (PAC) to have sufficient funds to assist members of the U.S. Congress who understand our professional concerns. When our friends on Capitol Hill ask for help with their elections, we can’t afford to leave them empty handed.  The PAC Auction is our only means for raising money.  PLEASE HELP!  Contact Trish Milburn trisha.milburn@acsm.net or 240-632--9716, ext. 105.  Thank you!

 

HUD RESPA Roundtable

Curt Sumner and Laurence Socci recently attended and participated in the HUD RESPA Roundtable held recently at HUD. The purpose of the roundtable was for HUD to introduce new forms that will be used during the home buying process. ACSM had several meetings with HUD officials to discuss the need for prospective homebuyers to be informed of the advantages of having a survey done prior to closing. The new forms that were introduced were the Mortgage Package Offer (MPO) and the Good Faith Estimate of Settlement Costs (GFE). A survey is mentioned in the MPO, but not the GFE. And, unfortunately, it is not discussed in detail in the MPO.

 

We were able to meet personally with Gary Cunningham, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing. We gave him information for HUD to put in the FAQ section of its website regarding the need for a survey. We will follow-up with HUD officials regarding our suggested changes to the new forms.

 

FLAIR ACT

One of the bills we are watching is the Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform Act of 2005, (H.R. 1370). The bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop a multipurpose cadastre of Federal real property (an inventory of real property of the Federal Government developed through the collection of geographical and digital data depicting natural or man-made physical features, phenomena, and boundaries of the earth and any related information) to assist with Federal land management, resource conservation, and development of real property, including any Federal land which is no longer required to be owned by the Government. It authorizes the Secretary to enter into cost-sharing agreements with States to include any non-Federal lands in a State in such cadastre. And it limits the Federal share of any such agreement to 50 percent of the total cost to a State for the development of the cadastre of the non-Federal lands in the State.

Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary to submit a report on: (1) the existing real property inventories or any components of any cadastre currently authorized by law or conducted by the Department of the Interior; (2) the inventories and components that will be or will not be eliminated or consolidated into the multipurpose cadastre authorized by this Act; (3) the cost savings that will be achieved; and (4) recommendations for any legislation necessary to increase cost savings and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of replacing, eliminating, or consolidating real property inventories or any components of a cadastre currently authorized by law or conducted by the Department of the Interior.

We are working with the sponsors of this bill to move it forward. It will also be one of our issues on Lobby Day.