In January 2018 Community Associations Institute (CAI) formed the CAI Political Action Committee Pennsylvania (CAI PAC PA) to support the legislative efforts being made on our industry’s behalf by our CAI Chapter and the Pennsylvania Legislative Action Committee (PA LAC). So, what role does the PAC have in supporting these efforts, you might ask?
A PAC collects voluntary contributions from individuals who share common interests and makes contributions to the political campaigns of current legislators and candidates. PACs take advantage of the contributions of multiple donors and translate these to a larger, more impactful unified contribution to one or more of the campaigns where there is a common interest.
It is important that the CAI PAC supports the election, re-election, and continued service of state legislators and legislative candidates who understand community association issues. We are attempting to ensure that the best candidates have the resources they need to win their campaigns and continue to stay in office.
Over the past two years, the CAI PAC PA has raised over $6,000 in donations from individuals who are CAI members from all over our Commonwealth. One of the challenges in raising money for a PAC in Pennsylvania is that all contributions must come from individuals, and no funds can come from corporate or business checking accounts or credit/debit cards.
Our donations did grow over 50% from 2019 to 2020 and our goal in 2021 exceeds what we raised in 2020. Ambitious goal during the pandemic, yes, but over the past two years, we have contributed $4,500 to various state senators and state representatives who support CAI’s initiatives yet had to walk away from many other similar opportunities just because we did not have the funds.
To improve our capabilities in 2021, I am happy to announce that we have added four new members to our committee. All four have strong community association backgrounds and will be very impactful for the PAC over the next year and beyond. I am very happy to announce that these individuals are Jamie Kay Redden, CMCA, Sara Austin, Esq., Kevin McGrath, PCAM, and Scott Reidenbach, Esq. They join our current committee which includes Steve Sugarman, Esq., CCAL, Carl Weiner, Esq., CCAL, Matthew Collins, Esq., Andrew Sytnik, CMCA, Alan Young, Esq., CCAL, Stephen DiOrio, CLU, ChFC and Robert Travis, CIRMS, CPIA.
It takes funds to become an elected state legislator and to remain in office. We are hoping to increase our industry’s visibility in 2021 as there continues to be a significant increase in legislation affecting community associations both positively and negatively. This is a result of the increasing scrutiny community associations are under year-after-year. CAI PAC PA wants to be able to respond on your behalf and your financial support will allow us to accomplish this.
To make a contribution to CAI PAC PA, please visit: Click Here.
