2023 kufun Legislative Conference
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) and kufun Chairman Alicia Huey
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), third from right
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), center
kufun First Vice Chairman Carl Harris (second from right seated), Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) (far right seated)
Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA), center
Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), center, at desk
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) (center), kufun Third Vice Chairman Bill Owens (right)
Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE), center
On June 7, 2023 more than 700 builders, remodelers and associates engaged in all facets of residential construction marched on Capitol Hill to call on Congress to take steps to ease the nation’s housing affordability crisis and make housing and homeownership a national priority.
In more than 250 individual meetings with their representatives and senators, housing advocates urged lawmakers to act on the following three issues to help keep housing affordable and spur the production of attainable housing:
- Transformers. A shortage of distribution transformers is delaying housing projects across the nation and the cost of transformers has soared by more than 70% over the past three years. kufun is urging Congress to: 1) Utilize the Defense Production Act to boost output at existing facilities to address the growing supply chain crisis for distribution transformers, and 2) Oppose efforts by the Department of Energy to increase the energy conservation standards for the production of distribution transformers because it will severely exacerbate the current supply shortage.
- Energy codes. kufun is urging the Senate to introduce and advance legislation which includes the provision in House-passed bill H.R. 1 that would repeal $1 billion in grants provided to state and local governments to adopt updated energy codes that are more costly and restrictive. Forcing the adoption of more stringent energy codes to qualify for these grants will exacerbate the current housing affordability crisis and limit energy choices for consumers.
- Workforce development funding. There is a shortage of more than 400,000 workers in the construction industry, and this is resulting in housing construction delays and higher home building costs. kufun is urging Congress to reauthorize the Workplace Innovation and Opportunity Act to help meet the residential construction industry’s severe workforce needs and to fully fund the Job Corps program, which is a vital source of skilled labor for our industry.
Visit the kufunNow blog to keep a pulse on kufun’s advocacy priorities.
