Week Two of the 83rd Texas Session

Session Underway, Speaker Reelected, Senate Committee Announced, First TMHA Bill, CFPB Final Rules

We are well into our second week of the 83rd Texas Legislative Session, and there is already much to report.

First, the much talked about race for Speaker of the House ultimately turned out to be much-to-do-about-nothing.  Rep. Joe Straus (R - San Antonio, District 121) was reelected by acclamation and will once again serve as the Texas Speaker of the House.

There was, however, an attempt to modify the House rules in the early goings of this session.  The charge was led primarily by Rep. David Simpson (R – Longview, District 7).  Simpson was the member who withdrew his name from consideration in a formal speaker’s race, but for months entertained a challenge.  Ultimately, the House rules remained relatively unchanged.  There were some minor modifications, but nothing more than House parliamentary procedure changes much of which by their esoteric nature are not interesting to the general citizenry.  Of course it is highly interesting for those of us political professionals working on the inside “making the sausage” every two years.

The Senate was also busy in the early goings with the Lt. Governor David Dewhurst announcing Senate committee assignments.  Recall from two years ago (or your high school civics class) the entire process of a bill becoming a law starts in committee.  If you cannot get a bill through committee, then it cannot pass. 

For manufactured, modular and even home financing related bills the key Senate committee is the Senate Business and Commerce Committee (“B&C”).  All of our roads lead there.  Much to our delight, Senate B&C membership is comprised of many manufactured and modular housing supporters.

Senate B & C : John Carona, Chair; Larry Taylor, Vice-Chair; Kevin Eltife; Craig Estes; Kelly Hancock; Eddie Lucio; Leticia Van de Putte; Kirk Watson; and John Whitmire.

We have run a quick analysis and there are 247 TMHA members who are direct constituents to these key nine senators.  Throughout the coming days we will be reaching out specifically to these members for their grassroots support to help advance our legislative agenda.

In other start of session news, there have been 765 bills already filed.  Many more will soon follow.  However, one of the early session bills is H.B. 578 by Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City, District 31).  This bill is one of several bills we will have this year as part of TMHA’s 83rd Session Legislative Package. 

H.B. 578 seeks to improve the regulatory environment of the Texas modular housing industry.  The bill would provide much needed clarity on the specific timeframe allowed for initiating an investigation on a modular home builder, manufacturer or third-party inspector.  The bill would also eliminate an unnecessarily costly and outdated procedure when submitting design review plans for new home models.  To see the content of this bill click here: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/HB00578I.htm

Session has just begun and we have many more challenging days ahead.  I’d like everyone to place on their calendar our TMHA Capitol Visit Day on March 5 where we need your help and support to come to Austin and help advocate for our industry.

Finally, I must quickly mention as an aside the news on the national front.  Simultaneously while working on our state legislative package here in Austin, we are also still highly involved with the recent rule makings of the federal CFPB.  In the last two weeks the CFPB issued seven final rules related to home mortgage lending, appraisals, escrow accounts, loan servicing, and loan originator compensation.  In total the seven rules are 3,507 pages in length. 

As it has been all along with all things emanating from the Dodd-Frank Act, the final rules are dense, complex and interrelated.  TMHA, along with additional legal resources, are working hard to go through all of the rules in their entirety to provide a detailed report on the new rules’ impact on our industry. We will also offer future educational opportunities to learn more about the rules, outline what business practice changes are mandated, and provide a detailed analysis in our next issue of Texas MH Quarterly.

For those interested in reading the final rules are posted here: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/regulations/