Northen Virginia congressional representatives take questions from the audience. L-R: NVAR CEO Ryan Conrad, Gerry Connolly, Jennifer Wexton and Don Beyer.

NVAR HELD ITS FIRST CONGRESSIONAL TOWN HALL on Sept. 13 with representatives Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly and Jennifer Wexton. As the first event of its kind to include all three representatives on a panel since the election last year of Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, the town hall highlighted the significance of the Realtor® community and its influence with elected leaders.

The representatives addressed regional matters, as well as key legislative issues NAR is lobbying for. They also fielded questions from the moderator, NVAR CEO Ryan Conrad, and the audience, which was comprised of 100 Realtors®.

Included here are excerpts from the questions and answers.

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW TO RESTORE AND MODERNIZE FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING TO STRENGTHEN THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY TRUST FUND?

Connolly: We have to stabilize the highway trust fund. It took us 53 years to get rail to Dulles. The Chinese are building things in 53 days. We’ve got to get serious about infrastructure. Certainly, here in Northern Virginia, we understand the value of investments and the loss that occurs when those investments don’t occur or are delayed. There is a huge return on investment when it comes to infrastructure. The interstate highway system that Dwight Eisenhower started – try to calculate what the economic benefit has been over the years.

Wexton: Infrastructure isn’t just going to be roads and bridges and things like that; it also needs to be improvements to the electrical grid; it needs to be things like rural broadband access. In a lot of my district, even in parts that you wouldn’t think, there’s no broadband access – and that really limits their ability to grow and succeed.

Beyer: The Society of American Engineers says that we are 2 trillion dollars behind in deferred maintenance for infrastructure, and in 20 years it’s a 4 trillion-dollar bill. The gas tax is … a 10- year fix. If you have an electric car or a hybrid and aren’t going to pay any of that [gas] tax, you need to be contributing to that infrastructure. The federal government has the primary role.

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS REGARDING METRO AND THE SILVERLINE EXTENSION?

Connolly: The Silverline is the single most important investment Northern Virginia has made in itself. We had a vision that by connecting Loudoun and Fairfax to Metro, we guaranteed our economic future, and you are now seeing that in Tysons. Tysons is the size of downtown Boston. It had 17,000 people living in it – and 150,000 people came into Tysons at precisely the same time every morning and went home at precisely the same time every evening. You’ll see green buildings, mixed-use developments, parks, restored streams and creeks. It will generate a billion dollars in new taxes, with more than half going to schools, and will ease the burden on homeowners, in terms of their tax rate.

Wexton: It’s going to be huge for Loudoun. It’s going to be transformative. It can help us leverage density in growth in the east and maintain that rural character in the north and west, maintaining farms, wineries, etc.

Q: ON TAX REFORM, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ADVOCATING FOR PARTIAL ROLLBACK OF PORTIONS OF THE LIMITS IN STATE AND LOCAL TAX DEDUCTIONS (SALT) VERSUS ADVOCATING FOR FULL ROLLBACK?

Beyer: I think you’re thinking too small. I’ve been serving on the SALT committee. I think there’s unanimity around legislation now that will repeal the SALT limit for the next three years, taking us back to where we were before, and paying for it with an increase in the tax rate from 37% back to the 39.6%.

Connolly: The reason for the cap was not about equity. It was to finance the corporate and high-income tax cuts they wanted to finance. They did it basically on the backs of middle-class taxpayers.

Wexton: I would certainly support such a measure.

Q: SEVEN THOUSAND VIRGINIA REALTORS® HAVE SAID THEY DON’T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE AND WE ARE PURSUING STATE LEGISLATION TO ALLOW ASSOCIATIONS TO OFFER HEALTH PLANS CONTRACTED IN THE MARKETPLACE. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT FEDERAL LEGISLATION TO ALLOW ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS?

Beyer: I think it’s plausible, but it’s going to have to be in the context of the basic health care minimums. We want to avoid association health plans becoming the old junk plans we had before. Health plans are the smallest part of the picture. Number one is the cost of prescription drugs and number two is surprise billing. These are the number one cause of bankruptcy in America.

Wexton: We want to make sure that they have those protections, but we are cognizant of issues that small employers and self-employed individuals have.

Connolly: Healthcare is maybe the most complicated economic issue we face. We have expanded coverage by 15 million or so, but still, some people fall through the cracks. As self- employed individuals, Realtors® often fall into that.

Q: TELL US ABOUT AMAZON AND ITS IMPACT ON OUR REGION.

Beyer: It’s incredibly exciting. Takeaways: there will be a $1 billion investment in Virginia Tech and George Mason. This will make us the MIT/Cal Tech of the mid-Atlantic and the world. There will be increased state investment for infrastructure and a new focus on housing. We are 150,000 housing units short in Metro D.C. and affordability is an enormous problem. There is a new region-wide commitment to affordable housing.

Wexton: A lot of people are going to need a place to live. I hope we get Metro up and running and flexible telework options for employees.

Connolly: We understand the value of key economic investments. This will anchor this region as Silicon East. We need to leverage it to address infrastructure – but especially housing.