Partner Column: Steven Kubik –Reflection on MBA’S National Advocacy Conference 2024
Last month, I had the privilege of attending the Mortgage Banker’s Association’s National Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC. This is the largest in-person advocacy event dedicated to advancing key priorities in residential and commercial mortgage finance. This was my first time attending, and without question, I now consider it my favorite of all industry events throughout the year.
The NAC is a two-day event. The first day, we heard insightful presentations about the current economic, regulatory, and political landscape affecting our industry. The impressive line-up of speakers included members of Congress and Charlie Cook, an American political analyst, whose entertaining and insightful outlook on the 2024 presidential election was one of many discussion highlights.
On the second day, we were grouped by state, and descended on Capitol Hill for hundreds of meetings with our respective Representatives and Senators’ offices to discuss industry legislative priorities. The agenda included support of the “trigger leads” Bills (H.R. 7297 and S. 3502), housing affordability initiatives, a bill to establish a partial claim option for V.A. loans (S. 3728), among others. Perhaps most importantly, this forum provides an opportunity for myself and industry colleagues to educate our Congress on the state of the mortgage industry and provide personal perspective on how legislative/regulatory issues affect us.
In my opinion, the value of this conference cannot be overstated, and it results in positive changes for our industry. I’d encourage anyone who is interested in affecting change in our industry or learning more about its current landscape to attend. Furthermore, I’d also encourage you to join the MBA’s Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA)—a voluntary, non-partisan grassroots lobbying network of real estate finance professionals.
If you have any questions about my experience or how you can become more involved as advocate for our industry, please let me know. I’d be happy to share and offer suggestions on how to get involved.
PS- As a personal highlight of my trip (outside of mortgage-related activities), on the Sunday before NAC I arrived in time to watch a Grand Prix Tournament for the International Fencing Federation being held in downtown Washington, D.C. My former Notre Dame teammates and alumni swept gold at the event—only fitting for a St. Patty’s day. Go Irish!
Pictured below with my dear friends, Gerek Meinhardt and Lee Kiefer. Gerek is competing in his 5th Olympics this Summer, and Lee will be defending her Gold Medal from the 2020 Games.
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