Message from Randy Strauss: Ohio State Rep to NAHB

MESSAGE FROM

Randy Strauss - Ohio State Rep to NAHB

Hello everyone -- See the following monthly talking points from NAHB. I find this to be a great tool to see what NAHB is doing for all of us, between our regular meetings.

Randy K Strauss Ohio State Rep to NAHB 1025 Milan Avenue Amherst, Ohio 44001 Office: 440-984-2575 Cell: 440-935-2929 randykstrauss@aol.com

Key NAHB Housing Issues

1. NAHB’s tireless efforts to work with the White House, Congress and lumber producers to increase production and bring prices lower are showing some positive results but the fight is far from over. 2. With the CDC federal eviction moratorium ending on July 31,

NAHB has worked to ensure that all of our members have the tools to access any emergency rental assistance funding and assistance that is available. 3. NAHB calls on Congress to help boost housing production by acting to fix the building materials supply chain, improve the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and reformulate current homeownership tax incentives. 4. Recruiting is the lifeblood of the Federation. Please participate in

NAHB’s “ONE in 21” campaign to recruit at least one new member this year. 5. NAHB members are invited to sign a Diversity, Equity and

Inclusion compact to enhance a diverse and inclusive membership that represents all communities that seek the

American dream of homeownership.

Lumber and Other Building Material Prices

• NAHB’s tireless efforts to encourage the White House to convene a home building materials supply chain summit has borne fruit. • I am pleased to report that the White House has heard our concerns and recognizes the importance of finding solutions that will end production bottlenecks that have resulted in soaring material prices. • At NAHB’s urging, a White House summit on building materials was held on July 16 with a diverse group of stakeholders.

Representing the administration were Commerce Secretary Gina

Raimondo, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and Director of the

Randy Strauss, Strauss Construction, Inc.

“See the following monthly talking points from NAHB.

I find this to be a great tool to see what NAHB is doing for all of us, between our regular meetings.

National Economic Council Brian Deese. • NAHB stressed at this meeting that it is imperative that lumber mill producers boost production in order to meet rising demand. • Home inventories are lean and the U.S. housing market is more than 1 million single-family homes short of what is needed to meet the country’s demand. • The summit was an important step forward. All the participants recognized the need to resolve supply chain bottlenecks and the issue of rising material prices and supply shortages has been brought front and center to the Biden administration.

A Year-Long Effort

• I want to stress that this White House summit on building materials was the culmination of a year-long effort where NAHB has been in the forefront in educating the public and policymakers about how rising lumber and building material prices are harming home builders, home buyers and the economic recovery. • NAHB leaders have appeared on CBS This Morning and numerous times on Fox Business News. We have also been featured in Bloomberg, CNN Business, Fortune, CNBC and scores of local media outlets across the nation calling for action to address rising prices and supply shortages. • Overall on the media front, we have earned more than $50 million in media coverage, with over 11,000 stories featured in national and local news. Effectively, we got $50 million in national publicity for free rather than having to pay for it. • In the policy arena, we have reached out to virtually every member of Congress on this issue and held talks with top White

House officials and Commerce Secretary Raimondo. • Thanks to the outreach of NAHB and our grassroots membership, several House and Senate leaders have openly raised the issue of soaring lumber prices, housing affordability and tariffs with

Secretary Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine

Tai. • In fact, Secretary Raimondo addressed the NAHB Leadership

Council on June 18 and said that “supply chain disruptions are at the top of my mind.” • And we are also seeking swift action on the trade front. Tariffs on

Canadian lumber shipments into the U.S. are exacerbating price volatility and increasing housing costs.

Resources for Renters and Landlords as CDC Eviction Moratorium Expires

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) federal eviction moratorium expired on July 31, 2021. • Eviction is always a last resort for landlords, and NAHB wants to ensure all of our members have the tools to access any funding and assistance available. • NAHB has actively advocated for emergency rental assistance to help those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect the viability and stability of the rental housing industry. • The Treasury Department has disbursed more than $46 billion in rental assistance to state and local programs for relief to both landlords and tenants. • NAHB continues to urge members to seek access to rental assistance funding via your local government and state housing finance agencies before pursuing an eviction or as an alternative to starting eviction proceedings. • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has put together a new toolkit to help landlords and renters find and access assistance with local programs. • NAHB has a sample script that landlords can use to contact tenants and walk them through the steps to apply for assistance and/or request permission to apply on their behalf. • The script, and other multifamily COVID resources, can be found on the Multifamily and Affordable Housing Resources for COVID-19 page on nahb.org. You can also visit nahb.org/ coronavirus for more pandemic-related tools and resources. • The bottom line is that property owners understand that evictions should only be made as a matter of last recourse and will continue to do everything in their power to help their tenants to access rental assistance and/or to enter into a reasonable payment agreement.

Not Out of the Woods Yet

• On the lumber price front, many of you may have seen media reports about the recent sharp drop in prices. • While this is good news, the lumber crisis is far from over. Since

April 2020, the price of softwood plywood has increased by more than 200 percent and the price of oriented strand board (OSB) has skyrocketed by nearly 500 percent. • The bottom line is that the OSB-led changes in softwood lumber prices that occurred between April 2020 and July 2021 have added $29,833 to the price of an average new single-family home and raised the rental price of a new apartment unit by $92. • Moreover, most builders have not been able to take advantage of the recent drop in framing lumber prices because producers are still selling off lumber that they purchased from mills when prices were at their peak. • So, when buyers read that lumber prices are coming down, builders need to educate them about this price lag.

Moving Forward

• Looking ahead, we will remain laser-focused on not only lowering lumber prices and increasing supply, but also keeping pressure on policymakers to improve supply chains for all building materials in order to protect housing affordability. • The NAHB advocacy team – Government Affairs,

Communications, Economics and Legal – continues to work doggedly on all fronts to find solutions that will ensure a lasting and stable supply of lumber and other building materials for the home building industry at competitive prices. • Learn more about what NAHB is doing to resolve the lumber crisis by visiting our lumber page at nahb.org.

Congress Needs to Advance Policies that Boost Housing Production

• NAHB CEO Jerry Howard is calling on lawmakers to enact policies that will help home builders expand the housing supply, reduce the housing deficit and improve housing affordability and opportunity for all Americans. • In a July 14 hearing before the House Ways and Means

Subcommittee on Oversight, Howard encouraged lawmakers to act on three key issues:

1. Fix the building materials supply chain. This is key to constructing more housing and reducing the housing deficit.

Regarding the current lumber crisis, the U.S. must immediately engage with Canada to adopt a new softwood lumber agreement and stop the imposition of harmful tariffs on Canadian lumber.

2. Improve the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).

Congress needs to enact H.R. 2573, the Affordable Housing

Credit Improvement Act. The bill would finance more than 2 million additional multifamily units over the next decade by increasing the amount of credits allocated to each state and expanding the number of affordable housing projects that can be built using private activity bonds. 3. Reformulate current homeownership tax incentives. Recent tax changes have undermined the effectiveness of the mortgage

interest deduction, resulting in fewer middle-class taxpayers itemizing and incentives flowing more to high-income households. A shift away from the mortgage interest deduction to a permanent homeownership tax credit that is targeted to lower- and middleincome Americans would make homeownership more accessible to hardworking American families.

Recruit and Retain ‘ONE in 21’

• NAHB’s “ONE in 21” campaign asks members to help recruit and retain at least one member this year. • Membership matters, and everybody can make an impact. Visit the retention tips and resources web page to get started on your

Retain ONE effort. • You’ll find sample outreach materials and advice from HBAs with top retention rates. • Make a difference – be a part of “ONE in 21.”

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Compact

• NAHB’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force was created in 2020 to establish best practices for developing policies to enhance a diverse and inclusive membership that represents all communities that seek the American Dream of homeownership. • NAHB’s goal is to have a membership that accurately reflects the diverse communities in which we live and work. We want to improve the culture by ensuring a welcoming environment where every person can thrive in this industry and create a successful and rewarding career. • The task force recently created a DEI Compact based on five guiding principles designed to foster and cultivate an association culture that promotes and encourages diversity, equity and inclusion as a foundation of a strong NAHB Federation. • NAHB members, affiliated home builders associations and industry professionals are invited to demonstrate their commitment to NAHB’s DEI initiatives by signing an electronic version of the NAHB DEI Compact. • Adding your signature to the DEI Compact is voluntary and illustrates you also affirm the principles it outlines. • You can learn more, read the DEI Compact and sign your name at nahb.org/dei.