Federation Equals Advocacy on All Levels
By: Greg Matovina, NAHB State Representative
Many members of a local builders association are not aware that their dues result in them being part of a local, state and national federation, including their local HBA, the Florida Homebuilders Association (FHBA) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Each branch of the federation has one of its primary focuses to advocate for legislation at the local, state and federal level for making housing more affordable and limiting or decreasing regulation of the land development and homebuilding industry.
Here is a report on what I learned that is happening around the country and at the national level at the recent NAHB Spring Conference:
- Housing finance reform (think FNMA and FHLMC, which are currently under government supervision) is stuck in neutral and probably will be until after the 2020 elections.
- FEMA is considering a new risk rated premium system which will individually rate properties and most likely result in higher premiums in high risk areas and lower premiums for lower risk areas.
- NAHB had over an 84% success rate in code changes currently under consideration by the ICC that they advocated for changes to.
- The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that contracts (between a builder and a customer or a subcontractor or supplier and a builder) that include mandatory arbitration cannot be named/included in a class action lawsuit.
- The primary push this year for NAHB per our chairman, Greg Ugalde, is housing affordability.
- NAHB continues to lobby Congress and press the US Post Office to restore delivery to the curb as an option.
- NAHB’s Chief Economist, Rob Dietz, is predicting a “soft landing” for our industry in 2020 with GDP of 1.9%.
And this is only what is happening at the national level! Your local association is hard at work for you on local issues and FHBA just finished a very successful legislative effort at the State level.
NAHB Meeting Was a Success, and More!
By: Rick Ilmberger, FHBA 2nd Vice President
June 4-8, 2019 was the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Spring Leadership Meeting in Washington, D.C., which I was able to attend as well as many others from the Florida Home Builders Association. It was a show of force on June 5th as members of NAHB from around the country descended upon the Hill to visit their members of Congress to talk about issues that are effecting the Building Industry today and in the future. Hundreds of visits were made and I am very confident Representatives and Senators heard us!
Membership within the Federation is growing and retention numbers are on the rise! There have been more than 10,000 new members recruited to date for an overall national membership of 142,126 and retention rises slightly to 78% for NAHB. This year NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde has stated that retention is his top priority and will be introducing a new Fall Membership program “Attention to Retention” to focus on renewing the first-year members brought in during the drives from last fall.
A full day of sub-committee meetings for the benefit of all Associate Members was a great experience as we continued to work on ideas on how to enhance the Associate benefits and value. Associate membership at your Local, State and National level are all at least 2/3 of the total membership. We, as Associate members must do what we can to help support our Local, State and National Associations thru recruitment, sponsorship and PAC. This will help ensure the success of the Construction Industry. If we don’t support the industry through proper Legislation with our Representatives and Senators then the dream of Home Ownership will become far out of reach for most people and if we don’t keep burdensome regulations and red tape at bay then Builders, Contractors and Developers won’t be able to produce like they should. Sub-Contractors and Associates will feel the pressure when building slows as well as our economy. EVERYONE and EVERY BUSINESS is somehow effected by the success of the Building Industry!
Thank you for being a member of your Local Home Builders Association AND (which I’m sure you ALL know) FHBA, and NAHB! I am honored to represent you this year as your FHBA 2nd Vice President and know you can always call/text me at (941) 626-9010 or email to rick@suncoastglass.com if you have any questions, concerns or ideas.
All members of the FHBA, their families, friends, co-workers and acquaintances even those who are not members are encouraged to attend the Southeast Building Conference on August 1-2, 2019 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando. This is the Largest and Best trade show in the Southeast United States and your FHBA is the organizer of this event! Also, all members, whether you are a builder/contractor, sub-contractor, associate member, are invited to attend any and all FHBA meetings held during SEBC. No, you do not need to be on a committee to attend. If you want to see what makes the FHBA tick or have an idea about Member Benefits, Membership, PAC, Governmental Affairs, etc. – we welcome you! Send me an email at rick@suncoastglass.com if you have any questions about attending.
Go to SEBCshow.com to register and/or make your hotel reservations.