Who lobbies for homeowners?
Josh Feit of The Stranger catches an Olympian article regarding a key consumer protection reform that appears to be in trouble in the state House.
Naturally, the BIAW has mounted a massive lobbying effort against it; that's what they do. Democrats need to keep in mind that there are no paid lobbyists representing ordinary homeowners, but just about anyone in this state can tell you a horror story involving shoddy construction. If it didn't happen to them they probably know someone who was a victim.
This is a pretty good example of the party needing to stand up to an entrenched special interest, in this case the BIAW.
Passing the Homeowners' Bill of Rights would be a win for Democrats because it puts them on the side of regular folks. Any perceived payback to BIAW would just be icing on the cake, and isn't the true reason to pass it.
And as for Rep. Brendan Williams' unfortunate statement about resigning, well, we've all said stuff we shouldn't have said.
Williams is a valuable member of the Legislature and we trust he will hit himself twice with a wet noodle and keep on keeping on.
Some House Democrats said Friday that they hope Olympia Rep. Brendan Williams was just blowing off steam when he threatened to quit this week over the apparent killing of legislation to give new-home buyers a warranty against construction defects.The bill in question is SB 5550, also known as "The Homeowner's Bill of Rights." The Olympian described it this way yesterday:
The bill would, starting in July 2008, establish transferable warranties for new homes built in the state.Sounds pretty reasonable to me. If you can't build a house to those standards you need to find a new line of work.
The warranties would protect against:The bill calls for a committee to study issues facing the construction industry and come back with recommendations to the Legislature by the end of this year, but the warranties would still go into effect July 1, 2008.
- Defects in materials and workmanship for two years.
- Defects in electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling and ventilating systems for three years.
- Defects resulting from water penetration for five years.
- Structural defects for 10 years.
Naturally, the BIAW has mounted a massive lobbying effort against it; that's what they do. Democrats need to keep in mind that there are no paid lobbyists representing ordinary homeowners, but just about anyone in this state can tell you a horror story involving shoddy construction. If it didn't happen to them they probably know someone who was a victim.
This is a pretty good example of the party needing to stand up to an entrenched special interest, in this case the BIAW.
Passing the Homeowners' Bill of Rights would be a win for Democrats because it puts them on the side of regular folks. Any perceived payback to BIAW would just be icing on the cake, and isn't the true reason to pass it.
And as for Rep. Brendan Williams' unfortunate statement about resigning, well, we've all said stuff we shouldn't have said.
Williams is a valuable member of the Legislature and we trust he will hit himself twice with a wet noodle and keep on keeping on.
