Good Morning Folks,

After the 4th of July, 250th Anniversary Celebrations, both the State and Federal legislatures spent time in their home districts, or a few days off with family. Most of my life I felt these were the safest times for the American Public. No bad ideas were made into law.

However, time off, from the government perspective has changed for me over the last 20 years, dealing with local, city, and county government. Particularly here in the desert, our agencies will take “dark” days in July and August. Local government staff like to propose new fees and ordinances before their breaks and then adopt them at the first meeting of September. Fee studies take a long time to review. They take even longer when staff members take a vacation break.

Several cities are quite disciplined in their schedule and propose inflation-indexed fee increases. I am mentally prepared for these studies; it is the odd agency that decides to create new fees to make up for past oversight that worries me. But we will find the time to give these studies a proper review.

In case you are not aware, within DVBA’s chartered region, there are 50 agencies with the ability to charge new construction development impact fees, capacity fees, and land use, regulatory, and services fees. Each of these categories requires a specific “nexus” study to support the charges to new construction.

Calling All Mayoral and City Council Candidates

The last day for candidates for local elected office to file their candidacy forms is August 8th. Should that agency have an incumbent not seek re-election, that filing period is extended. The DVBA will be reviewing candidate applications starting the week of August 11th. For qualified candidates, the DVBA, in conjunction with our 501(c)3 Coachella/Imperial Valleys Strategies (CIVS) PAC, will send out a questionnaire via email. The candidates will have approximately 10 days to return the completed questionnaire. The elections committee will schedule “In-Person” interviews for early to mid-September.

DVBA may endorse candidates for office, while CIVS has the ability to financially support candidates.

Our goal is to endorse/provide funds to selected candidates prior to the mailing of ballots to the voters.

If you have questions or concerns, call James Brownyard at (760)776-7001.

From NAHB

July 8, 2026

Despite Headwinds, Economy Remains Resilient

The economy has faced a number of significant headwinds in 2026, most notably the Iran war, which has caused energy costs to spike and inflation to reaccelerate. Core PCE inflation, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, increased to 3.4% — the highest rate in three years and well off the central bank’s 2% target.

Despite these challenges, the economy continues to post solid data suggesting that recession risk remains contained. Consumer confidence has improved, but sentiment itself is highly politicized, reducing its value as an economic forecast indicator.

The labor market has lost momentum recently but continues to show employment gains and a low level of unemployment. In June, the economy added 57,000 jobs. While positive, this was the smallest gain since an outright loss was reported in February. The unemployment rate was a low 4.2% in June, but the labor force participation rate declined to 61.5%, its lowest level in more than five years. 

Residential construction employment lost 8,900 workers in June and has now declined in four of the last five months. Over the last year, the residential construction sector has lost 48,800 jobs. Despite hiring weakness in the home building sector, job openings across the broader construction industry increased to 298,000 in May, up from 220,000 a year ago. Data center and tech-related construction has increased demand for construction workers.

Amid ongoing housing affordability challenges, residential construction growth has been led by remodeling in recent quarters. For example, according to the Census Bureau's construction spending report for May, improvement-related spending was up 8.1% over the last year. By contrast, during that same period, single-family construction spending was down 4% while multifamily construction spending was up 3.3%. These trends will continue for the remainder of 2026, with home equity and an aging housing stock powering the remodeling market.

From Economist Elliot Eisenberg: Petrol Paradox

While the US is, by far, the world’s largest oil producer, with domestic daily production approaching 13.8 million bbl/day, 42% more than Saudi Arabia, domestic gasoline prices rose quickly when the Iran War began and have remained high. The reason: US gasoline prices are closely tied to global oil markets because US refineries are configured to process heavy sour crude rather than domestically produced light sweet crude, which is exported.

Please check out our partner’s Greater Palm Springs Business News Report from Friday.

Greater Palm Springs Business News

Best wishes,

James Brownyard

Executive Director

Mission Statement The DVBA is an association of building industry professionals, representing all levels of the construction industry and committed to ensuring that building of all types remain vibrant and strong in our region. We are dedicated to providing excellence in community development while protecting the natural beauty of the Coachella and Imperial Valleys.



Vision Statement To be an industry sector leader and collaborative partner in the complex economic and regulatory environments of the Coachella and Imperial Valleys.

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Starting at our upcoming luncheons, we'll have a business card fishbowl. Drop in your card to:


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It's one more way we're making our luncheons even more valuable for members.

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Bill Tracking:

Active Bills Being Tracked by CalChamber Prior to Summer Break Starting with the July 4th, 250th Anniversary Celebrations. The Legislature reconvenes August 3rd.

https://advocacy.calchamber.com/2026/06/26/busy-week-ahead-before-legislative-summer-break/

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