Gerald M. Howard

President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Home Builders (since 2001)

Why He Matters

Howard got into real estate before he had even graduated from high school. His first jobs were gigs working with his father, who developed hotels across the country. "Literally I've been in and around this industry my whole life," he said in an interview with WhoRunsGov.com.

In his four decades in the business, Howard has sold houses, lobbied for better mortgage terms for borrowers and helped develop legislation to ease the credit crunch in the early 1990s. Now he runs the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), one of the largest and most influential lobbying groups in D.C. The group represents more than 200,000 builders and remodelers.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Head lobbyist, NAHB (1994 to 2001); Tax Counsel, NAHB (1988 to 1994); Chief Lobbyist, National Council of State Housing Agencies (1984 to 1988)
Hometown: Pheonix, Ariz.
Alma Mater: University of Vermont, B.A., 1977; University of South Carolina, J.D., 1980

Spouse: Christina
Office:
Web site

Path to Power

Howard was born in Phoenix, Ariz., but he moved often with his seven siblings and father. Though his first jobs were in real estate, Howard had a different vision for how his future would play out.

At the University of Vermont he studied Russian. "My plan at that time was to learn Russian and then go to law school and specialize in international business law," he said in an interview with WhoRunsGov.com. "I thought I'd be a gazillionaire by the time I was thirty. By the time I got to law school, Reagan called Russia the evil empire. That was the end of that."

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The Issues

For Howard, the top issue for his members in 2009 is survival. "This is the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression," he said in an interview with WhoRunsGov.com. "Some would say it's as bad as the Great Depression."

The NAHB is working with Congress, departments and regulatory agencies to stabilize falling home prices and to incentivize home-buying through tax credits and stimulus money. His organization is also looking for legislative tools to ease the credit crunch for developers. "Banks are very reluctant to make real-estate related loans," he said.

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Encouraging Home Ownership

The housing market was one of the hardest-hit industries by the 2008 - 2009 recession, and Howard believes that the federal government must encourage Americans to buy houses in order to help the housing industry.

His firm lobbied for the stimulus' $7,000 tax credit provided to first-time home-buyers who purchase a house in 2009 and will be monitoring its impact closely. "We'll be advocating an extension of that credit and other elements to make it more broad based," he said. NAHB is hoping to eventually offer that credit to all buyers.

Easing Pressure on Builders

In 2008, some of the NAHB's members began calling for a tax break that would have allowed businesses who experienced a loss in 2008 and 2009 to apply those losses for tax purposes against five years of past profits instead of two years. This would help builders who lost money in 2008 and 2009 pay lower taxes.

The plan will cost the government $25.5 billion, which made the measure unpopular with congressional leaders like House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Howard was initially reluctant to back the legislation. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), he warned that large companies might take advantage of this "net-operating loss" regulation. The letter led several of the NAHB's largest members to call for Howard's resignation. Howard eventually backed the policy, which was included in the 2009 stimulus package.

Unionization

Much of the residential-building sector is not unionized, and Howard believes that this has helped to keep construction costs low. NAHB is "is very, very hesitant to raise the cost of labor when our industry is already in the dumps," he said in an interview with WhoRunsGov.com. As a result, the NAHB does not support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA would allow the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union without if a majority of employees sign cards signifying their interest in unionization.

Green Building

Howard believes that the federal government must consider the cost to builders thus home buyers when developing green building-standards. "There must be balance between protection and affordability," Howard said in an interview with WhoRunsGov.com. "What is an environmentally valuable tool in northern Vermont may not be cost-effective in South Carolina." The organization has opposed global-warming bills and federal legislation that sets building standards for this reason.

In 2007, Howard helped develop the national green building standard on green building and increasing energy efficiency. These national voluntary guidelines direct builders on ways in incorporate sustainability benchmarks and were approved by NAHB in January 2009.

But environmental groups argue that the NAHB is using its voluntary standards to avoid following more rigorous mandatory standards that would curb national fossil-fuel use and maintain lower home energy costs. "All new homes need to be energy efficient, not just some," Bill Fay of the Alliance to Save Energy told WhoRunsGovcom."The resistance that we've had on mandatory energy codes is very disconcerting." The Energy Department released a 2007 study that showed while energy efficient houses cost more to build, investors make that money back through energy savings.

The Network

Howard often teams up with lobbyists from the Associated General Contractors, the Association of Realtors and the Mortgage Banks Association.

In the Obama administration, Howard will work with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. He also works closely with the congressional leaders who oversee HUD, including Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

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Additional Resources