MBA State & Local Program Increases Footprint
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s State and Local Program is one of MBA’s least-known but most active and effective advocacy efforts.
“Real estate finance public policy debates take place every day in state, local and municipal governments nationwide and the network of state and local organizations make sure the industry’s interests are represented and advocated,” said William Kooper, MBA vice president of state government affairs and industry relations.
The MBA State Relations Initiative was created to strengthen state associations and MBA by focusing on a shared set of interests: advocacy; communications; and business development. Kooper said the State Relations Initiative was created by the MBA Board of Directors to help strengthen existing state mortgage banking associations and create new associations to align with MBA.
Advocacy includes the Mortgage Action Alliance, MBA’s grassroots advocacy arm; MORPAC, the MBA political action committee; MBA’s State Legislative Database; and bimonthly State Legislative Reports and regular MBAlerts as well as the MBA State & Local Workshop held this week in Washington
Communications include MBA’s Ambassador Program, Speakers Bureau, quarterly reports and the MBA State and Local online community, a social media space just for state and local members.
Business development has taken on a higher priority in recent years, Kooper said. It represents two basic programs: Member Recruitment and MBA Education Sales. Member recruitment involves getting local MBA members to become more active at the national level; MBA Education provides revenue-sharing potential for its popular programs, such as the School of Mortgage Banking.
“The most important thing [we] do is provide a message about the value of your membership,” Kooper said.
More information about MBA’s State & Local Program can be found at https://www.mba.org/audience/state-legislative-and-regulatory-resource-center.
