During its June 22-24 meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Western Governors Association (WGA) unveiled a new report focused on expanding housing to western states. NAHB worked closely with the WGA in drafting the report, Building Resilient and New Affordable Developments in the West, and NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes participated in a panel that highlighted the key findings. Hughes encouraged the governors to keep the “5 Ls” in mind when working on housing issues: Labor, Land, Lumber and materials, Lending, and Laws and regulations. The lack of skilled labor, local land use policies that restrict home and apartment construction, lumber price volatility and elevated material prices, high lending costs for builders, and high regulatory burdens are the main drivers of low housing supply and high home prices, he noted. The report contains a number of policy objectives that seek to ease home building costs and increase the supply of housing.