Today, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at revitalizing the American economy by creating a fast track for the rulemaking process for reforming regulation. The Executive Order also establishes a “Regulatory Bill of Rights,” which provides guidance for agencies on using discretion in their enforcement with businesses operating in good faith to follow the law.
As the nation tries to navigate the COVID-19 crisis coupled with an affordable housing shortage, MHI strongly urges the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to utilize this Executive Order to update the federal building standards for manufactured housing (i.e. the HUD Code) to support innovative housing solutions for this affordable homeownership option.
The Executive Order directs agencies to utilize emergency authorities to identify regulations that create hurdles for job creation and economic growth. The same emergency authorities were used to enable agencies to respond quickly when COVID-19 began to spread. Now, those authorities are being used to help restore the economy by reducing the rulemaking process by years, in some instances.
As part of MHI’s ongoing advocacy efforts, comments were submitted to HUD in response to the Department’s proposed changes to the HUD Code – the first proposed changes in nearly a decade. These revisions to the HUD Code represent critical progress in clearing out the backlog of updates that have been approved by the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC) but are still pending HUD approval and implementation. When the HUD Code is not regularly updated, it makes it difficult for manufacturers to offer consumers the latest innovations, technologies, and features they demand.
“The Manufactured Housing Institute applauds President Trump and his Administration for recognizing the significant hurdles American people and businesses will face on the road to recovery from COVID-19,” said MHI CEO Lesli Gooch. “Manufactured housing is an industry that has thrived on its ability to innovate and build efficiently. Pursuant to today’s Executive Order, MHI encourages HUD to finalize its proposed updates to the HUD Code with our suggested enhancements and also move forward with finalizing the subsequent sets of updates that have been approved by the MHCC but are still pending HUD action.”
If you have any questions, please contact MHI’s Advocacy and Communications Department at MHIgov@mfghome.org or 703-558-0675.
Print Friendly