The HBA’s Former Government Affairs Director, Rep. Shane Schoeller, was sworn in as the House Speaker Pro Tem on Wednesday, January 5 – the first day of the Missouri General Assembly’s 2011 session. The Speaker Pro Tem is the second highest ranking official of the state’s House of Representatives. For more information and to view his opening day address, visit Schoeller’s Speaker Pro Tem website by clicking here.
“The stakes are extremely high for the housing industry this legislative session,” said HBA CEO Matt Morrow. “The provision we fought so hard to pass in 2009, which prevented code-adopting jurisdictions from mandating residential fire sprinklers, will sunset at the end of this year unless legislation is passed to remove or extend it.” The HBA of Missouri and the HBA of Greater Springfield both have retained lobbyists focused on this issue. Read more exclusively about advocacy efforts related to the fire sprinkler priority in another Housing News Weekly article by clicking here.
Bills relating to the fire sprinkler mandate have already been filed this session along with others relating to housing, construction and small business. To see a current list of those bills with brief descriptions, click here. For a general update and report regarding the progress of the legislative session from our HBA of Missouri lobbyist Jewell Patek, click here.