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Advocating for Our Industry

We just returned from a full week in Washington, DC attending the National Association of
Home Builders (NAHB) Legislative Conference. This is my favorite NAHB meeting to attend and
a great way to connect with our elected officials in Congress and in the Senate, as well as their
staffs.
The main focus of our meetings was on housing affordability. Over 700 NAHB members from
across the nation attended and our message was clear. Rising costs stemming from excessive
regulations, the lack of construction workers, tariffs on lumber and other key building
materials, and growing mortgage liquidity concerns are having a negative effect on housing
affordability.
Kristi Sutterfield
Executive Vice President Did you know that more than 4 million Americans work in the residential construction
Pictured with her son, Hunter Sutterfield, industry and millions more are engaged in businesses directly related to home building? The
who just completed his first year of homebuilding industry accounts for approximately 15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
law school at Texas Tech
The housing market is critical to a strong economy.
In one of our legislative briefings, dozens of members shared that they are facing severe labor shortages which in turn translates into
higher housing costs, increased home prices, difficulties completing projects on time and lower economic growth. When we met with
our members of Congress, we talked about how crucial immigration reform is to our urgent labor needs. We urged our elected officials
to address the undocumented population and those who hold provisional legal status.

Thousands of work-authorized individuals holding temporary protected status (TSA) or are participating in the Deferred Action for
Childhood arrivals (DACA) program have helped fill a small part of the growing labor shortage but both of these programs face an
uncertain future. This could lead to an exodus of these workers from the construction industry which will only exacerbate our existing
worker shortages.
We had the opportunity to urge our Congressional delegation and Senators to end tariffs on imports of softwood lumber, steel,
aluminum and a wide variety of other goods used by the home building industry. We were happy to find out that the House voted to
renew the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the bill is now in the Senate. There have been numerous short-term extensions
but we need to pass a long-term reauthorization of the NFIP.
We did have an opportunity to discuss model code development and energy codes. Most of our members have felt the effects of the
expensive requirements that have come about in the latest versions of code changes from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Executive Vice President. It is an honor and a privilege to represent you along with our
Leadership Team, Board of Directors and members. If you are interested in getting involved in our Government Affairs Committee,
please call me at 210-696-3800.

Warm regards,

8 JULY 2019 | GREATER SAN ANTONIO BUILDERS ASSOCIATION