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Help Take Industry Concerns to Lawmakers on May 10
With just over two weeks to go before the association’s most important legislative lobbying event of the year, there is still time for builders to sign up for the NAHB Legislative Conference on May 10 and join more than 1,100 of their colleagues on Capitol Hill as they call on their members of Congress to increase housing opportunities for all Americans.
“A record number of builders will be in Washington on May 10 for this special day-long event that will coincide with our spring board meeting,” said NAHB President David Pressly. “The Legislative Conference provides builders a unique opportunity to speak directly with their federal representatives on Capitol Hill and convey to them the challenges their businesses face every day. We encourage all industry professionals to participate.”
To keep housing a national priority, builders will be calling on their lawmakers to:
- Protect the mortgage interest deduction and other housing tax incentives
- Enact a balanced agenda that protects the environment and allows communities to thrive
- Eliminate excessive regulations that harm housing affordability
- Recognize housing’s critical contribution to the current economic expansion
- Implement comprehensive immigration reform that addresses crucial border security needs and provides for a new guest worker program
- Maintain a strong housing finance system
- Support legislation that allows property owners more expeditious access to federal district court review of property takings cases.
Why Your Help Is Needed
A strong builder turnout is important because decisions that affect the housing sector are being made every day in the halls of Congress. Environmental regulations, tax policy, soaring health care costs and many other issues can add thousands of dollars to a builder’s annual operating budget, and Congress weighs in on each and every one of them.
Sharon Larson, executive officer of Brookings Regional Builders Association in South Dakota, said that meetings with her state’s congressional delegation during last year’s Legislative Conference proved to be an invaluable experience.
"A person can receive all of the e-mails and legislative alerts that come from NAHB, but not really 'get it' until they have heard first-hand how builders and home owners are affected on a daily basis,” she says. “Hopefully, we were able to make a difference that day, but in addition to that, I think having the ability to reference that meeting in my correspondence has been very useful."
Attending the 2006 Legislative Conference offers an unparalleled opportunity to:
- Lobby members of Congress to protect your business
- Establish lasting relationships with your elected federal officials
- Share builder concerns in a national forum in Washington, D.C.
- Learn the latest policy developments on the key issues affecting your business
- Demonstrate your industry’s commitment to responsible policies, pragmatic reforms, effective programs and providing the resources necessary to meet our nation’s ongoing housing needs
- Network and share business strategies with your peers
- Learn how to be an effective advocate for your business and your industry
- Make your views known on Capitol Hill
- Do your part to ensure that NAHB’s issues are heard by Washington policymakers
- Galvanize a united front on Capitol Hill
Your participation can make a difference. On May 10, the nation’s home builders will send a powerful message to members of Congress: Housing must remain a national priority.
Meet With Your Members of Congress
Come to Washington and show your members of Congress the great work you do back home in building your communities. Urge your lawmakers to adopt sensible policies to enable your business to thrive and allow the nation’s home builders to fulfill their mission of providing safe, decent, affordable housing to all Americans.
“For any builder who is concerned about their bottom line, attending the Legislative Conference could be the best decision that they make this year,” said Pressly.
To Register
For more information and to register for NAHB’s 2006 Legislative Conference, click here; or e-mail Jessica Boyce at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8334.
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