From the 83rd: Zombies Walk the Halls

For those reading the title of this post, don’t start boarding up your doors and windows or rationing water, the zombie apocalypse is not upon us.  Nor am I referring to the people wandering the halls these last 14 days of the Texas session, though many of us might resemble such creatures after the last 126 days.

The zombie reference is one I’m borrowing from a Texas political reporter referring to bills that died from the passage of last week’s House deadline.  Last week’s deadline mandated any House bill that is not heard on the House floor by midnight last Thursday is dead.  However, with the passage of the deadline and the appearance of many bills dying there is always the possibility some of these seemingly deceased bills reemerge in their zombie form of amendments to other bills still moving through the process.  So while there is some narrowing of focus and even delight that some bills suffered that fate last week, so also begins the tricky process of watching alive bills to make sure no bad zombies are attached to them in the final two weeks of session.

Included in last week’s list of bills that didn’t survive the deadline was the TMHA opposed HB 2210.  The bill would have required confusing, ineffective displays of laminated copies of a home’s statement of ownership and location affixed to the front door of every used home for sale.  This requirement would have been for all persons – license holders and non-license holders alike.  It was a delight that this bill still had 24 other bills in front of it when the clock hit midnight last Thursday night (I suppose technically it was early Friday morning).

I know there were many in the industry excited about HB 3647 which would have de-regulated MH salespersons.  However, the clock give’th and the clock take’th away.  HB 3647 also did not make it to the floor in time last week.

One bill we can truly cross off our work list for this session is SB 672.  SB 672 is the bill limiting the regulatory jurisdiction of TDLR related to residential modular homes to two years following final installation.  Those following these updates know this bill already passed both chambers, but had one final step to go – the Governor’s signature.  Last Friday the final necessary step was taken when the Governor signed SB 672 into law.  The new law becomes effective on September 1, 2013.

In addition to warding off zombies for the next two weeks, we are still trying to get another TMHA supported bill through the Senate in the remaining two weeks.  HB 3613 has already passed through the House, and we anticipate it will be heard in committee in the Senate this Wednesday.  I will be there to testify in support of the bill.  HB 3613 would create a procedure of verifying valid or delinquent tax liens on manufactured homes older than the four year statute of limitations.  For delinquent liens the bill would allow the MH Division of TDHCA to then remove those liens from a home’s statement of ownership and location.

In other MH specific legislative news, HB 944 was heard in Senate committee last Tuesday.  HB 944 has passed the House and as of last Tuesday was voted out of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee and sent to the Local and Uncontested Calendar.  However the Senate version of the bill is different than what was passed out of the House.  HB 944 would increase the de minimus amount of homes a person could sell each year without having to obtain a retailer’s license.  Currently the law requires a license if a person sells two or more homes in a year.  The House version of HB 944 would increase this amount to five homes.  In committee last week the senate sponsor of this bill amended the bill to reduce the number from five to three.  Assuming this bill makes it finally out of the Senate, it will go back to the House where the bill’s author, Rep. Debbie Riddle (R – Houston), can either concur with the Senate changes or request a conference committee where House and Senate members can work on a compromise.

Finally, the TDHCA sunset bill, HB 3361, also remains outstanding.  The bill has passed the House and was heard in Senate committee last week.  The sunset bill was recommended for the expedited Senate Local and Uncontested Calendar.  We expect the bill to pass out of the Senate in the coming 7 -10 days and then head to a conference committee where select House and Senate members will discuss the differences in the bill to arrive at a final version for both chambers to then approve.

Fourteen days and counting.  As always it will be a sprint to the end.  Stay tuned for the latest updates, and if you choose to believe the rumors circulating it looks like the work of the legislature might not be completely done in two weeks if the Governor calls everyone back for a special session this summer.