Earlier this month, the House Financial Services Committee approved legislation (H.R. 1751) sponsored by committee chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) that would require all new manufactured homes be equipped with NOAA weather radios. For a copy of the legislation click here, for a copy of the committee report, click here

. MHI has maintained its official position that if Congress is to mandate the installation of weather radios they should be required of all forms of housing, not just manufactured homes. Severe weather events, such as tornados and hurricanes, do not discriminate by housing type and neither should federal policy.

The measure is expected to come up for floor consideration under suspension of the rules – a tool to provide swift floor consideration of bills and are typically passed by unanimous consent decree – in September.

MHI has conducted significant outreach to Rep. Bachus and his senior staff to press for substantive revisions in the bill and to underscore the potential burdensome impact this mandate could have on an industry that is already struggling. MHI has also underscored that weather radio legislation competes with an existing warning notification system (WARN Act) scheduled to become active in April 2012, which will provide owners of handheld wireless devices with emergency notifications (for additional information, click here to see the CRS report on the WARN Act).

While companion legislation has not yet been introduced in the Senate, MHI has already contacted leaders of the Senate Banking Committee to register industry concerns. MHI expects to work closely with committee leaders to ensure the manufactured housing industry is not unfairly targeted or negatively impacted by any Congressional effort requiring the mandatory installation of emergency notification devices.

To help communicate the industry position, click here

for sample talking points developed on this issue by MHI. MHI will continue to provide updates on the legislation as information becomes available