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Housing Priorities Discussed With Howard Dean
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NAHB President David Pressly, left, met with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean earlier this month to discuss housing priorities and the need to pursue a strong national housing agenda.
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Addressing a wide range of legislative and regulatory issues affecting the nation’s housing industry, NAHB President David Pressly earlier this month met with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to discuss the need to pursue a strong national housing agenda.
Discussions focused on the need to enact policies that would make homeownership more affordable for America’s working families. Pressly made it clear that NAHB wants to seek bipartisan consensus and work with Congress to:
- Enact comprehensive immigration reform that secures the nation’s borders and establishes a guest worker program. NAHB supports S. 2611, the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act,” which passed the Senate last month. The bill would protect and secure the U.S. borders, establish a guest worker program that would keep the economy moving forward, help employees verify the legal status of their employees and create a legal path for foreign workers to apply for citizenship. The legislation must be reconciled with a narrow House bill (H.R. 4437) passed in December that seeks to solve the immigration problem through border security and punitive enforcement penalties for employers without opening any new avenues to legal employment.
- Ensure that any tax reform proposals put forth by Congress protect the mortgage interest deduction and all other housing tax incentives in the current tax code. With a $700 billion cost of eliminating the alternative minimum tax, which is ensnaring more and more middle-class Americans, Pressly noted that housing is an obvious target for additional revenues. Though Congress is unlikely to take up the issue this year, NAHB remains vigilant and will urge lawmakers to reject any tax reform plans that would hurt housing.
- Advance legislation that would restore the protections offered under the Fifth Amendment to property owners. Specifically, NAHB is urging the House to pass “H.R. 4772, the ‘Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 2006.” The bill would ensure that liberties safeguarded by the takings clause in the Constitution can be defended in the federal courts.
- Recognize housing’s critical contribution to the current economic expansion. Pressly emphasized the important role that housing plays in maintaining a healthy economy, creating jobs for workers in their local communities and accumulating household wealth. At present, housing accounts for about 16% of Gross Domestic Product, with the industry creating 6 million jobs in 2005. Housing also plays a leading role in the way most Americans save and accumulate wealth. Today, American home owners have more than $11 trillion in housing equity.
To read legislation, click here and enter the bill number in the box at the center of the page.
For more information, e-mail Greg Brown at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8421.
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