Usually I give a brief update on land real estate public policy issues of interest to REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI) land professionals and the landowners they serve.

However, the election of Donald Trump to the highest elected political office in the land has scrambled the usual political dynamics of Washington, D.C. – the rule-book has been thrown out and we are in uncharted waters.

Given the unusual political environment we find ourselves in today, I thought it might be helpful to identify some of the factors that now make up the new reality of Washington, D.C., and how these factors might impact land real estate public policy issues that land agents and landowners care about. So here they are, the four new realities of Washington, D.C.:

1. New Administration. The Trump Administration was elected to achieve several big priorities: immigration reform; comprehensive tax reform; construct a wall on the southern border; and repeal and replace Obamacare. Smaller items on the agenda include reforming existing trade agreements and repealing Dodd-Frank. The Trump Administration is still finding its way on how to achieve its policy priorities, but eventually, they will find their footing. When they do, tax reform could be the issue they turn to for a legislative win.  Of all of these issues, tax reform could pose a threat to RLI’s most important legislative land real estate public policy issue: preserving the 1031 Like-Kind Tax Exchange for landowners and investors.
2. New Congress. While the Republicans have captured both the House and Senate, they did so with small majorities and increased ideological polarization. Practically speaking, this is a recipe for legislative gridlock as congressional leaders discover it is difficult, if not impossible, to cobble together enough members to pass legislation. However, this could work in RLI’s favor.  While legislative stagnation means that some bills RLI members might support don’t get passed, it also means that other bills, such as tax reform that harm 1031s, might never see the light of day.
3. Executive Order (EO) Governance. A recent trend for presidents is to issue Executive Orders when they are unable to achieve their policy agenda in Congress. This occurred quite often during both the Clinton and Bush Presidencies, then, accelerated quickly during Obama’s presidency. Trump has used them even more frequently to achieve early momentum on some of his key policy goals. While EOs are limited in scope because they only impact activities of the federal government and not broader corporate or social institutions, they can be used in a targeted way to achieve a specific result.  One recent EO directed the EPA to begin the process to rescind and replace the controversial and damaging Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) regulation. If Trump does nothing else as President, rescinding WOTUS will help land owners and real estate agents more than anything else.
4. De-regulatory Environment. President Trump has made it clear to all the federal regulatory agencies that they need to establish a process for reviewing and rescinding unnecessary or antiquated regulations. This has also been the subject of several EOs as well. While deregulation of the private sector is an important goal, this strategy has limitations as well.  First, the process for repealing a regulation is cumbersome and time-consuming.  Second, these only apply to regulations that originated in the federal agencies.  For example, the WOTUS and the Clean Power Plan regulations were initiated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), without any statutory direction from Congress, so they can only be repealed by the EPA.  Regulations implemented under the direction of Dodd-Frank or the Affordable Care Act were initiated under the congressional authority, so they can only be repealed or modified by Congress.  Deregulation will unburden land real estate agents and their clients as well as help spur innovation and economic development.

This article originally appeared in the 2017 Summer Terra Firma Magazine, the official publication of the REALTORS^® Land Institute.

About the author: In his position with the National Association of REALTORS^®, Russell Riggs serves as the RLI’s Government Affairs Liaison in Washington, D.C., conducting advocacy on a variety of federal issues related to land.