From The 83rd: The First Score and the Remaining 29 Days

Last week proved to be yet another busy week for bills related to the manufactured and modular housing industries of Texas in the legislature.

SB 672 is passed. The biggest news out of last week occurred on Friday when the TMHA supported SB 672 was finally passed in the House.  SB 672 clarifies that the regulatory authority of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs related to residential modular homes is limited to two years following the final home installation.  This bill has now passed through both chambers and is headed to the Governor’s desk for signature or veto.

HB 3613 is the TMHA supported bill that would provide a mechanism for the MH Division of TDHCA to remove tax liens from titles if the tax lien is more than four years delinquent.  HB 3613 was unanimously voted out of the House Ways and Means Committee last Thursday with a recommendation the bill be sent to the expedited Local Calendar.  Assuming things continue to progress the bill could make it completely through the House and over to the Senate in the coming weeks.

Last Wednesday SB 1690 was also heard and unanimously voted out of the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations.  SB 1690 is the Senate version of the TMHA supported down payment assistance pilot program specific for manufactured housing consumers.  TMHA Executive Director, DJ Pendleton, testified in committee in favor of the bill. SB 1690 was recommended for the Local Calendar in the Senate.  The House companion bill, HB 2954, has already passed through the House committee and is currently sitting in House Calendars awaiting a trip to the House floor for a vote.

Other bills worth mentioning are HB 610 which provides a limited retailer license exemption for commercial sales of MH communities, and HB 944 that would increase the current less than two sales in a year de minimus exclusion from retail licensure to five or less.  Both bills are through the House and are now over in the Senate.  The bills have been referred to the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, but have yet to be set for a hearing.

The remaining 29 days will, as they always are each session, be the longest and most intensive.  The House has already announced its intention to start working weekends starting this Saturday. 

As the series of deadlines begin to pass by and bills die, legislators and interest groups will seek out creative efforts on moving bills to attach amendments to breathe life back into their issues. 

TMHA will continue to keep our members updated until the final clock strike and the 2013 Texas Session sine dies.