WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:01.560 Hi, my name is John Russell. 2 00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:03.560 I'm the Senior Director of Government Relations 3 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:07.090 and Chief Lobbyist with the American Society of Appraisers. 4 00:00:07.090 --> 00:00:08.250 line:15% The federal government wanted 5 00:00:08.250 --> 00:00:10.240 line:15% to make appraisers fiduciaries. 6 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:12.540 line:15% An appraiser is someone who was paid to give 7 00:00:12.540 --> 00:00:15.130 line:15% and objective unbiased third-party, 8 00:00:15.130 --> 00:00:17.970 line:15% I have no interest stake in the transaction, 9 00:00:17.970 --> 00:00:19.720 opinion of what something is worth. 10 00:00:20.671 --> 00:00:23.260 And in this case it was for shares in a company 11 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:24.720 that would be owned by its employees, 12 00:00:24.720 --> 00:00:27.820 an employee stock ownership plan transaction. 13 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:29.910 line:15% So we engaged very early in that process. 14 00:00:29.910 --> 00:00:31.710 line:15% It was with the Department of Labor 15 00:00:31.710 --> 00:00:34.640 line:15% explaining why this created an untenable position, 16 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:37.070 line:15% an untenable tension between what was being asked 17 00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:39.200 and what was going to happen. 18 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:42.570 That process took nearly five years to resolve itself. 19 00:00:42.570 --> 00:00:44.370 The first thing that you'll do with any proposal, 20 00:00:44.370 --> 00:00:46.090 especially regulatory rule making, 21 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:48.590 is you'll sit down with the text of the proposal. 22 00:00:48.590 --> 00:00:49.980 You'll read through it. 23 00:00:49.980 --> 00:00:52.340 You'll reach out to those within your organization 24 00:00:52.340 --> 00:00:54.990 who you know can understand the proposal, 25 00:00:54.990 --> 00:00:57.780 line:15% can digest it quickly, can provide really good feedback, 26 00:00:57.780 --> 00:01:00.290 line:15% let you know is it something that's beneficial, 27 00:01:00.290 --> 00:01:01.690 line:15% something that's harmful? 28 00:01:01.690 --> 00:01:03.920 line:15% Are there aspects to it that are problematic 29 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:05.692 line:15% that need to be addressed? 30 00:01:05.692 --> 00:01:07.620 Ways that you could possibly address it. 31 00:01:07.620 --> 00:01:09.500 Once you sort of get through that part 32 00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:11.710 and you establish okay, what are my positions, 33 00:01:11.710 --> 00:01:14.370 or what are our positions as an organization, 34 00:01:14.370 --> 00:01:16.590 and how are going to express those positions? 35 00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:20.113 And it's important to get in front of whatever 36 00:01:20.113 --> 00:01:21.940 entity has proposed the regulatory rule making. 37 00:01:21.940 --> 00:01:24.550 So in the prior example, the Department of Labor, 38 00:01:24.550 --> 00:01:26.890 but whatever government agency it may be, 39 00:01:26.890 --> 00:01:28.400 and to sit down with them and get a sense 40 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:30.570 of what they're trying to accomplish. 41 00:01:30.570 --> 00:01:32.930 And then there's a lot of putting out press releases, 42 00:01:32.930 --> 00:01:36.270 writing about the issue, communicating out to your own, 43 00:01:36.270 --> 00:01:40.050 in my case I represent nearly 5,000 professional appraisers, 44 00:01:40.050 --> 00:01:41.740 line:15% so how you communicate the issue to them, 45 00:01:41.740 --> 00:01:43.880 line:15% why it's important, why we're spending the time on it, 46 00:01:43.880 --> 00:01:46.950 line:15% why it's important that we continue to follow through on it. 47 00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:49.660 line:15% So obviously having very strong writing skills is important 48 00:01:49.660 --> 00:01:52.140 in that context as well and making sure 49 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:54.690 that you can make the case internally as to why 50 00:01:54.690 --> 00:01:57.010 we're putting the resources into fighting a certain 51 00:01:57.010 --> 00:02:00.430 proposal and why it's something that's of import 52 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:04.350 and critical to deal with in that situation. 53 00:02:04.350 --> 00:02:05.990 And then just paying attention to what's going on 54 00:02:05.990 --> 00:02:08.170 with things like tax reform, other things moving 55 00:02:08.170 --> 00:02:11.362 through Congress that can impact the appraisal profession. 56 00:02:11.362 --> 00:02:13.760 You pay attention to a bunch of legislation. 57 00:02:13.760 --> 00:02:16.210 95% of it never gets passed, right. 58 00:02:16.210 --> 00:02:18.710 So you sit here and twiddle your thumbs, 59 00:02:18.710 --> 00:02:20.720 and there's very, as much as we'd like to think, 60 00:02:20.720 --> 00:02:23.890 line:15% we as lobbyists have a lot of sway over outcomes 61 00:02:23.890 --> 00:02:26.760 line:15% at the end of the day, when only 5% of anything moves 62 00:02:26.760 --> 00:02:28.660 line:15% how much influence do you have in the first place 63 00:02:28.660 --> 00:02:31.720 line:15% as to what moves in a bicameral legislature 64 00:02:31.720 --> 00:02:34.840 with 535 different sets of opinions and interests? 65 00:02:35.936 --> 00:02:36.769 So just making sure that you're plugged in 66 00:02:36.769 --> 00:02:39.930 to what's going on up on Capital Hill, also critical. 67 00:02:39.930 --> 00:02:41.230 Never really a dull moment. 68 00:02:41.230 --> 00:02:42.780 Never really a down period. 69 00:02:43.670 --> 00:02:45.070 Some of that owes to the day job 70 00:02:45.070 --> 00:02:47.025 and some of that owes to the things 71 00:02:47.025 --> 00:02:48.725 that pop up on an as needed basis.