Late March is a busy time at the State Capitol. The Joint Finance Committee heard testimony from State Agencies on March 28th and 29th. The Governor’s budget includes the elimination of many Boards and Councils which were housed under the Department of Safety and Professional Services, which includes the elimination of the Manufactured Housing Council. The Wisconsin Housing Alliance Board determined that the industry will not lobby to keep the council since it had not met in the last few years, and staff could keep in contact with the agency and state lawmakers if changes were needed.
One major discussion from the State budget that affects manufactured and modular home transportation is funding for roads. Wisconsin’s roads are consistently some of the worst in the nation and the Governor is not willing to raise the gas tax or registration fees to fund improvements. Some lawmakers are unhappy with bonding and the debt service that goes along with it, so there is somewhat of a stalemate on finding a solution for transportation funding.
Staff are having discussions with lawmakers to remove the requirement for the Dwelling Contractor and Dwelling Contractor Qualifier (DCQ) licenses for a licensed manufactured home installer to pull a building permit to install a manufactured home. If this can be put into the budget, it could take effect as early as July 1st. This would help installers by lessening the confusion with keeping multiple licenses and it would eliminate some of the continuing education required for the DCQ license.
The Wisconsin Housing Alliance is also working with over 40 other entities on the elimination of the personal property tax. If you would like to see this unfair tax on small businesses eliminated, please go to www.repealppt.com and click on the link to send a message to lawmakers and Governor Walker to let them know that you support this effort.
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