FPC Sonia Anaya meets with U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez during Hill visits at the Midyear Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo in Washington, D.C. Anaya has been a longtime FPC to Gutierrez, who is retiring after this term in Congress.

Illinois REALTORS® completed visits with every member Congress on Thursday, talking about the need to support net neutrality and the need to re-new the federal flood insurance program.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush meets with Illinois REALTORS® in Washington, D.C.

Federal Political Coordinators, who serve as liaisons between the state association and elected officials, led the meetings which included visits to all 18 U.S. House representatives and both senators’ offices.

Most of the meetings were one-on-one with congressional representatives. In a few cases due to scheduling issues the REALTOR® delegations met with top office staff. The meetings began on Wednesday, and concluded on Thursday.

FPC and Illinois REALTORS® Treasurer Ed Neaves meets with U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger in Washington, D.C.

REALTORS® in the meetings pushed for support for net neutrality, which would guarantee access to the Internet. REALTORS® are backing the policy because so many consumers use the Internet to access listing information. Disruption of access to information could have a big impact on the real estate business.

The delegations also pushed for a renewal of the National Flood Insurance Program, which could lapse on July 31 without Senate action. The House passed the 21st Century Flood Reform Act which authorizes a five-year extension. A lapse could cost 40,000 home sales per month, according to NAR.