11 Things Builders Should Watch This Year in Washington
Bill Ward, Executive Vice President, HBAI
January 20, 2017
- Housing Finance Reform – NAHB is concerned that the Trump Administration favors doing away with Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs). NAHB supports continuation of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. The PATH Act will be reintroduced in the Senate, NAHB will oppose. The Johnson/Crapo bill will be reintroduced on our behalf
- Regulatory Reform – Trump Administration and NAHB are aligned here. Legislation to create legislative oversight for administrative rule making will be introduced in the form of the Regulatory Accountability Act, the Midnight Rules Relief Act and the REINS Act.
- Postal Reform Act of 2016 – Allows USPS to do cluster box delivery in new single family subdivisions. USPS is opposed to waivers supported by NAHB. USPS is running at a $15 billion per year budget deficit.
- Energy Conservation – NAHB seeks legislation that new ECC rules must prove to have a 10 year simple payback to take effect. Trump administration probably helpful here.
- National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) – Reauthorization expires September 30th. There is a movement toward privatized insurance. Homeowners will scream when they can’t get NFIP insurance. NFIP is running a $23 billion annual deficit. Trump may cut costs here.
- Independent Contractors – Make the IRS test the same as the DOL test, then try to get states to conform to one federal standard. DOL test assumes everyone is an employee until proven otherwise.
- Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – HUD runs billions of dollars in the red each year. Trump plans to cut all non-defense discretionary programs down to actual funding levels. NAHB supports current HUD spending levels.
- Workforce Regulations – New Overtime Regulations from DOL still has an injunction supported by NAHB. New administration will slow this down but a deal needs to be made to allow it to move with inflation.
- Tariffs on Canadian Softwood Lumber – Canada/USA negotiations failed and the Federal Trade Commission ruled against our position. 25% tariff on Canadian Lumber is coming. Trump favors tariffs on imports, NAHB disagrees with Trump here.
- WOTUS & Wetlands – Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) Rule by U.S. EPA will be pulled by the Trump administration. New WOTUS rules by Trump will most likely be supported by NAHB. Environmental groups will now be the ones to use court action to stop new rules.
- Tax Reform – NAHB will work well with administration and Congress on tax reform although Mortgage Interest Deduction and Low Income Housing Tax Credit will be in play. Cost Recovery – A new proposal would allow a building to be expensed for one year instead of depreciated over time. That might be good for our members but it could also create a glut of buildings on the market after one year.MID – A new proposal would double the standard deduction on federal tax returns which would eliminate a lot of people who itemize. If you don’t itemize, then you don’t need the mortgage interest deduction. This could hurt home construction.
- “There are known knowns. These are things we know we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things we know we don’t know. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
- Quote of the Day – Donald Rumsfeld, Former Secretary of Defense:
