GovTrack.us is billed as a nonpartisan resource for tracking legislation, synopsis and details about a given legislative proposal, who has signed on as sponsor(s) or co-sponsor(s), etc. It is a relatively quick way to get an unbiased look at the odds for a bill becoming law. Per GovTrack on 7.30.2022 at about 3:12 PM ET, the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) supported HR 7651 has the following key facts.
H.R. 7651: Manufactured Housing Affordability and Energy Efficiency Act of 2022
This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on May 3, 2022. It will typically be considered by committee next before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole.
Other activity may have occurred on another bill with identical or similar provisions.
Cosponsors
11 Cosponsors (11 Republicans)
Prognosis
1% chance of being enacted according to Skopos Labs (details)
To clarify the process and standards for rulemaking establishing standards for energy efficiency in manufactured housing, and for other purposes.
The bill’s titles are written by its sponsor. …##
There is more on GovTrack, but that is sufficient to make these 5 key points:
- There are no Democratic co-sponsors on a bill when Democrats are in control of the House, Senate, and the White House.
- There are only 11 cosponsors, after the Manufactured Housing Institute (see below) claims that over 700 contacts from members have been made to lawmakers.
- Skopos Labs says the chance for enactment is only 1 percent.
- While GovTrack doesn’t directly point it out, there is no companion bill shown for the U.S. Senate.
- With climate change and ‘green’ being big on the Biden White House agenda, any one of these 5 bullets are sufficient evidence that HR 7651 is a messaging/posturing bill rather than a serious piece of legislation.
More that could be said, but those five bullets above are sufficient for now. Additional facts, evidence, analysis and expert commentary/viewpoints on that will follow MHI’s spin, err, posturing, ah…, BS, oops, narrative or ‘news item’ on 7.27.2022 to their members. But let readers decide for themselves, based on the evidence above and MHI’s own words, below.
On Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at about 4 PM ET, the following was part of an MHI email sent to MHProNews by a source deemed reliable. The purple text for the headline is in the MHI original.
Ask Your Representative to Cosponsor H.R. 7651 to Ensure DOE’s Manufactured Housing Energy Efficiency Standards Do Not Hurt Homeownership Affordability
H.R. 7651 requires that before any new DOE energy standards can become effective or be enforced: (1) DOE must fully consult with HUD, (2) DOE must document that the rule is cost-effective based on the impact of homebuyer price and cost increases, (3) the standards must fully take into consideration manufactured housing construction methods and transportation requirements, and (4) the standards must be adopted by HUD as part of the HUD Code. ##
Note that MHI mentioned none of the 5 factual bullets noted above that is based on GovTrack data?
LegBranch.org said: “Members of Congress take many votes on policies that have no hope of becoming law.” In a similar fashion, lawmakers are signaling some constituency by submitting bills that have no hope of enactment. Some bills start – or may end – with a single lawmaker, the sponsor, in support of it.
Princeton University published in 2021 an article on the topic of “Message Legislation” which opens with these words: “Message bills are hopeless legislation constructed not to change public policy but instead to signal desirable attributes of incumbents to constituents – virtue signaling.” It also said: “The data suggest that most introduced bills are not viable.”
That begs the question. Who is MHI trying to fool with these types of messaging stunts? After all, members of Congress on both sides of the two party aisle know the score. They don’t have to be told that some piece of legislation isn’t serious when there is no bipartisan support from the outset or when there aren’t parallel bills in both the U.S. House and Senate.
Princeton, LegBranch, and GovTrack provide the needed insights.
But if they are not enough, a close look at the MHProNews exclusive Q&A linked below details the dark history of what an RV MH Hall of Fame inductee and former MHI executive explained was MHI posturing vs. MHI action on this DOE Energy Rule issue.
This isn’t the only such item that MHI has pushed on its unsuspecting and trusting independent members. Recall Preserving Access for Manufactured Housing Act? Some of the same hurdles were in place then as exist for HR 7651. Who said? How about MHI’s then VP Jason Boehlert.
There is not much that MHI can point to in terms of an accomplishment that actually resulted in a sharp increase in manufactured home production or sales. A look at some of the headlines for the week that will illustrate that point from the latest news reports.
Don’t miss today’s Postscript as another example of MHI’s big talk vs. sadly pathetic results, all while MHI continues to press their narrative despite it being debunked several times.
With no further adieu, here are the headlines for the week that as from 7.24 to 7.31.2022.
What’s New on MHLivingNews
What’s New from Washington, D.C. in from MHARR
What’s New on the Masthead
What’s New on Words of Wisdom by Tim Connor, CSP
What’s New on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 7.30.2022
Friday 7.29.2022
Thursday 7.28.2022
Wednesday 7.27.2022
Tuesday 7.26.2022
Monday 7.25.2022
Sunday 7.24.2022
Postscript
Per that same 7.27.2022 at about 4 PM ET, MHI had the following to say about their long and much ballyhooed CrossMod® manufactured housing program, which has the support of Clayton Homes (BRK), Skyline Champion (SKY) and Cavco Industries (CVCO).
Support for CROSSMOD® Homes Grows
Note that not one word is mentioned about consumer acceptance? Or actual sales data? Is that because reliable sources inside MHI member brands have told MHProNews that there is “no traction” for CrossMods? Official data is released once a year by the FHFA per the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) also proves that sales are in the low single digits per year, or perhaps low double digits. In a market of over 100k new manufactured homes per year, that’s a nearly meaningless fractional rounding error.
But note too that MHI indirectly admits that appraisers haven’t been accommodating on CrossMods. Ouch, but that’s the obvious takeaway. So, an article meant to show ‘support growing’ it reveals instead the lack of support by appraisers. This fits information previously reported by MHProNews, based on another MHI member source. MHI’s admission is a year or more late.
Once more, there is no mention from MHI of marketplace acceptance.
You can’t make this stuff up, because the truth properly conveyed in manufactured housing would make for seemingly unbelievable fiction. MHI claimed CrossMod ® homes were going to open up new markets for manufactured housing, and lead to greater acceptance (and sales) of all manufactured homes. MHProNews questioned that thesis from the outset, saying what was originally called the “new class of manufactured homes” before they were later rebranded as CrossMod ® homes could be a Trojan Horse for the industry. Indeed, despite MHI’s claims of “momentum” videos, messaging, and other hype – the national manufactured housing production and shipment data reflects that for the next 2½ years manufactured housing went into a production/sales dip.
Here is what MHI said as one of several attempts to get industry/consumers to buy into their hype.
But MHProNews and our MHLivingNews sister site periodically debunked MHI’s claims, as has the Modular Home Builders Association (MHBA) and MHARR.
MHI can keep peddling their version of what some have called “the big lie.” Per Oxford Languages: “The Big Lie” is “a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the facts, especially when used as a propaganda device by a politician or official body.” MHI apparently tried to gaslight the industry and others with their repeated claims that mysteriously lacked actual sales traction. If the CrossMod ® homes sales were there, MHI would have gladly published the results. Instead of confessing their errors, they prefer to double, triple, and quadruple down.
While many others toe-the-MHI line, this platform refuses to kiss their ample derrieres when they are demonstrably wrong, deceptive, or worse. Stay tuned to this source for authentic information, analysis and commentary based on facts and evidence, not hype, tripe, propaganda, or outright lies. ##
Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
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