New Videos Outline Key Messages for the NAHB Legislative Conference
To prepare for the meetings, members are encouraged to watch two new videos that outline the main messages to convey to lawmakers.
In the first video, NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz provides the current economic backdrop for the meetings, stressing that "stagflation" is the main macroeconomic risk of 2022. Key messages include:
- Economic growth is slowing and the risk of a recession in 2023 continues to increase.
- Inflation is rising, leading the Federal Reserve to aggressively tighten monetary policy.
- Housing affordability is declining and future gains for housing are at risk.
- Regulatory and legislative policy can help reduce supply-side constraints to fight inflation, help businesses generate economic growth and improve housing affordability.
In the second video, NAHB Senior Legislative Director Alex Strong outlines the actions Congress should take to help ease the housing affordability crisis and supply chain disruptions that raise construction costs:
- The Biden administration must suspend tariffs on Canadian lumber imports and move immediately into negotiations with Canada on a new softwood lumber agreement.
- Congress should pass the "No Timber from Tyrants Act," legislation that would ban lumber imports from Russia and replace those imports with timber responsibly sourced from U.S. federal lands.
- Congress should pass the "Ocean Shipping Reform Act" to alleviate the building supply chain bottlenecks that are delaying other products and materials from reaching jobsites.
View the videos on the 2022 Legislative Conference webpage.