When I took the oath as your 2014 chairman at last week's International Builders' Show, I also pledged to highlight the value proposition of NAHB and what your national association is doing to create a better business environment for all those involved in the residential construction sector.

Along these lines, I am pleased to report two early legislative victories on the Farm Bill and flood insurance that will benefit home buyers, home builders and remodelers.

The Farm Bill

Congress passed a Farm Bill that includes an important provision championed by NAHB that will help members living and working in rural areas across the nation. President Obama signed the bill into law on Feb. 7.

The legislation allows more than 900 communities nationwide to retain their status as "rural" areas where residents have access to important rural housing programs that help low- and very-low income households obtain homeownership or suitable rental housing. This will enable millions of Americans to maintain access to critical rural housing programs.

NAHB estimates that in 2014 alone, this will generate $1.2 billion more investment in housing in these areas, including construction of new single-family and multifamily homes and remodeling. Breaking this down even further, it means that each of these 900-plus communities will receive on average an additional $1.3 million in economic activity this year in the form of loans and grants for new construction and remodeling.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) redraws its maps defining rural areas following every census, and the maps drawn after the 2010 census would have removed these communities from the program due to their population.

NAHB's action to insert the rural housing provision into the Farm Bill provides a long-term solution because the legislation keeps the current maps and extends the population definition for these rural areas to 35,000 until after the 2020 census.

One NAHB member summed up the legislation this way: "The Farm Bill alone will keep many small builders in business."

A Flood Insurance Fix

The Senate on Jan. 30 approved the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (S. 1926), legislation championed by NAHB that would provide relief from soaring flood insurance premium rates for countless home owners across the nation. The measure also contains an amendment by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) that is critical to the health of the remodeling industry.

The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act would:

• Delay insurance rate increase for all primary residences until an affordability study is completed.
• Require that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) take into account all local flood control structures while mapping.
• Allow consumers to appeal FEMA's mapping decisions and to be reimbursed for their appeal expenses.
• Reinstates an exemption in 53 communities nationwide for basements that are built a certain way.

Sen. Blunt's amendment would return the "substantial improvement threshold" that triggers a higher flood insurance rate to the historic 50 percent level of a structure's fair market value, which is important for many remodelers across the nation....

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