At the Louisville Manufactured Housing Show, Jason Boehlert, Vice President of Government Affairs for MHI, responding to a question from MHProNews.com about the possibility of altering the provisions of Dodd-Frank that negatively impact the MH industry, said, “Where a lot of these measures fail in reforming Dodd-Frank is when they are too broad, they don’t have bi-partisan support. Luckily for us, we have one of the namesakes (Rep. Barney Frank) willing to work with us on this issue. As long as we keep our asks targeted, I think we have a decent shot.” MHProNews: “Even with all the bi-partisan conflict in Washington these days?” Boehlert: “I think on the margins there are opportunities on a targeted basis.” MHProNews: “Since Barney Frank is not seeking another term, do you think he will step up a little farther then he has in support of changes?” Boehlert: “His position has been the same whether he’s running or not. He has always been pretty consistent in support of the (MH) industry. The only industry he has been willing to work with is ours. He has not gone out in the forefront of anyone else. There are not a lot of Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee for whom manufactured housing is an interest or concern, and that number is dwindling. Republicans are willing to do almost anything about Dodd- Frank, they tend to be more pro-industry, and more likely to be from rural areas. Democrats on that committee are more from urbanized areas where there is no manufactured housing presence. To them, affordable housing is rental housing, Section 8.”
