February 2012
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Our Day on "The Hill": Getting Agreement on the Issues that Count

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In the best of times, democracy in action can be a slow-moving train; with the current deadlocked Congress, sometimes it feels like the train has no intention of leaving the station. But on Feb. 1, 14 members of BOMA/NY and staff were Amtrak-bound to Washington, DC for the BOMA International National Issues Conference and, in just one day, succeeded in winning agreement on two key issues: leasehold depreciation and bringing more homeland security dollars back to NYC.

Though a floor vote has yet to be held, we have made major inroads by finding common ground—and more importantly—potential "yes" votes when the issues do come before the House and Senate.

Business Taxes: In our meeting with Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens left), the Congressman told our BOMA/NY team that he will "work hard" to get the leasehold depreciation tax rate terms changed. For the past two years, owners have been able to depreciate leasehold improvements over 15 years. This year, the depreciation schedule returned to a 39-year timeline, which is far too long and works against business interests.

Homeland Security Funding: Since Department of Homeland Security funding was first allocated in the early mid-2000s, our industry has repeatedly advocated that New York City, as the #1 US target, should  receive its proportionate share of funding. In our meeting with Rep. Pete King (R-Long Island), with whom we have worked previously and who supports the Secure the Cities program and other anti-terrorism initiatives, we were assured that he will "press the US DHS to change its appropriations policy" based on a municipality’s threat level.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens below right) also pledged her continuing support to make sure that New York gets its fair share of DHS funding.

Every year BOMA/NY fields several teams to participate in the National Issues Conference and pursue aggressive advocacy to gain passage of federal, state and city legislation to advance the interests of our industry. Recent wins have included the defeat on the carried interest charge and fighting off challenges on "card check" and energy efficiency mandates before they could gain traction.

Our three teams this year included:

Team A: Personal meeting with Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) and the staff of Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island). Shown here are the team members meeting with Congressman King:

(l- r) Ernest A. Conrad, PE/LEED AP/CEM/BEAP, Conrad Engineering;Thomas L. Hill, RPA, Boston Properties; Congressman King;Rick Lefever, PE, LEED AP, Facade MD Architects & Engineers; Roberta A. McGowan, CAE, BOMA/NY Executive Director; Louis J. Mantia, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.

Team B: Personal meeting with Rep. Carolyn Maloney and the staffs of Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx), Rep. Nan Hayworth, MD (R-Westchester, Orange, Putnam counties) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York State).  Shown here with Congresswoman Malloney are: 

(l-r) Mitchell Grant, RXR Realty LLC; Jose Toro, CBRE; Rep. Carolyn Maloney; Angelo Grima, Schneider & Schneider, Inc.; Bill Muzzio, President of BOMA Westchester, SL Green Realty Corp.; (not shown, Sylvester Giustino, BOMA/NY Director of Legislative Affairs)

Team C: Personal meeting with Rep. Joseph Crowley and with the staffs of Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York State). Team members shown here are:

(l-r) Domingo Diaz, Diaz Architects, Inc.; John Simoni, Esq., Goetz, Fitzpatrick LLP; James R. Kleeman, RPA, Port Authority of NY and NJ; James McDermott, Automated Logic – NY/NJ