The National Association of Home Builders is playing nice with Congress again.
The trade group, representing thousands of home builders, has switched its lobbying tactics and its political action committee has resumed doling out political donations, after halting them in February to protest what the group said was policy makers' failure to help the housing industry and overall economy.
The association had been pressing for a tax break that would have allowed builders to apply losses to taxes paid four years ago, instead of the current two-year carry-back. But the group has backed off that effort and is focusing now on a proposed tax credit for home buyers to stimulate demand.
"Too much time has passed, too many people have lost their homes and too many home builders have lost their businesses, for us to worry about looking backward," NAHB Chief Executive Jerry Howard said Monday.
The trade group's shift on the tax break comes after the Senate came under fire for including it in its housing-relief plan. Critics said lawmakers were favoring builders over strapped homeowners. The House version of the plan doesn't include a carry-back provision.
The tax-break flap also exposed a split between the NAHB and many of the large, publicly traded home builders that hired an outside lobbying firm to push for the carry-back provision. The tax-relief issue "showed the industry the importance of having a unified message," Mr. Howard said in an interview.
Meantime, the home builders' political action committee, BUILD-PAC, is giving out political donations again. Ed Brady, chairman of BUILD-PAC, said the group lifted the ban last month because, "we felt like people were paying attention to us again."
During the current election cycle, the group has given about $977,000, with 45% going to Democrats and 55% to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
By: Michael Corkery
Wall Street Journal; June 17, 2008
