Legislative Session Week 16:
Action Alert - We Need Your Help

If you haven't responded to our legislative alert yet, read on, and contact the legislators listed below! 

The Minnesota Senate overwhelmingly passed a prohibition on home sprinkler mandates in the Omnibus Economic Development bill. This vote – 47 of 64 Senators stepped up to oppose the sprinkler mandate – is a huge bipartisan step in the right direction. We must continue to build on this momentum.

Members of BATC have made a powerful impact thus far, and we need you to continue to speak out if we are going to succeed this year.

Please contact members of the conference committee today to help them understand the negative consequences that a home sprinkler mandate will have on our industry, and the ripple effect it is sure to create for our economic recovery in the years to come. It's as easy as a phone call or email to the ten conference committee members listed below. 

Click here for contact information & sample messaging, or scroll to the end of this email.

Housing Revival Creates 500,000 Jobs
Bloomberg - "A rebound in homebuilding after a six-year slump should generate as many as 500,000 jobs in 2013 and 700,000 in 2014" [keep reading].

A Full Recovery for Housing
Builder Magazine - "The nation’s growth is finally being driven by housing again" [keep reading].

New Home Sales to Double
CNN Money - "On a year-over-year basis, new home sales in March were up 18.5%. The inventory of new homes for sale rose slightly to 153,000 in March, up from 152,000 in February. This continues a trend of rising inventory, marking the seventh consecutive month in which inventory has grown" [keep reading].

Myths about the U.S. Economy

• What Has Happened to Middle Income Households?
• Are Wages Rising or are they Stagnant?
• Is the U.S. Still the World's Leading Economy?

Get the answers >>

Our quarterly publication, Builders' Digest, just got personal! Our Members in the News section feature awards, births, marriages, promotions, condolences and milestones that are important to you! Send news to Katy@batc.org to be included in the July-September issue.
View an example >>

The housing market just wrapped up its busiest April since 2007, according to Finance & Commerce, and this month's permits are surging. According to the Research and Analytics unit of McGraw-Hill Construction, March residential contracts increased by 39% and the year-to-date percent change is strong at 71.

Housing market data this month was strong and a long-run trend of improvement is expected, but there will be bumps along the way. Accoding to NAHB's Eye on Housing, "availability of building lots and skilled labor, rising building material prices, and big picture economic and policy developments will present month-to-month challenges for home builders and other housing businesses." Read more at nahb.org.

For April permits and for additional market information, visit the BATC newsroom.

Six new members joined our association in the month of April! Help us welcome the following companies to BATC:

• BuildTools, Inc.
• Crestwood Homes, Inc.
• Fort Group
• MC Custom Homes, LLC
• River City Underlayment
• Spacecrafting Photography and Video

Visit www.batc.org for more information on each company.

We've made it super easy for you to help stop the indoor home sprinkler mandate, just contact the 10 Conference Committee members by calling or clicking on their linked email addresses below. Use this example email or compose your own message.

Subj: Vote No on Mandatory Indoor Sprinkler System for MN Homes

Dear _____________,

I’m a Minnesotan who works in the homebuilding industry. I strongly support the provision in the Omnibus Jobs and Economic Development Finance bill which prohibits a mandate for home sprinkler systems in our state’s building code. Newly built homes in Minnesota are a national model for fire safety where fire deaths have virtually disappeared. There are other important factors I’d ask you to consider:

• The housing industry plays a critical role in the state’s ongoing economic recovery.
• Coming out of the recession, consumers are very price-sensitive.
• The cost of meeting the home sprinkler mandate is approximately $2.00 per square foot, and twice that for homes with well water. For a 4,500 square foot (unfinished) home, this adds $9,000 -$18,000 to the cost of purchase.
• Once installed, a sprinkler system requires more rigorous testing and maintenance than an equally-effective hard-wired smoke alarm system, further increasing costs for homeowners.
• The potential impact of a false positive is also significant – while a false alarm for a smoke detector awakens the family, with a sprinkler system the house is flooded.

If new home safety was a significant concern in Minnesota today, we would join the groups who are interested in this mandate. However, based on any independent data, Minnesota is a very safe state for new and remodeled homes. Asking families to pay thousands more dollars for their home in an effort to mitigate a negligible risk is contrary to the policy and purpose of the current building code, which states:

“The construction of buildings should be permitted at the least possible cost consistent with recognized standards of health and safety.”

Please support the Senate language on this issue, we look forward to a building code free of a home indoor sprinkler system mandate.

Sincerely,
Your Name, Company Name

*Receive a BATC Bonus Buck, worth $100 in BATC Bucks, when you attend an event that's in our  2013 'Champion Event Series.'

May 7
Showroom Mixer at Warners' Stellian [more information]
May 22
Parade of Homes Fall Deadline [enter a home]
May 31
Walleye Invitational [register]
June 18
Showroom Mixer at Mingle [get more information]
June 27
ROMA Awards Banquet [get more information]
July 18
BATC Boat Cruise [register]
July 25
Member Orientation [register]
August 6
BATC Open Golf Tournament [register]
October 15
Member Orientation [register]
October 24
Awards of Excellence Gala [register]

See Complete Calendar at WWW.BATC.ORG >>

View the 2013 Bonus Buck Events >>

Become an event sponsor: Take your membership to the next level by partnering with BATC. Contact Kori for sponsorship openings.