Tuesday, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly was awarded the ‘2018 Champion of Homeownership Award’ by the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI). MHI recognized Donnelly’s work in negotiating, co-writing, helping introduce, and passing the bipartisan Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in May and included provisions based on Donnelly’s bipartisan Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act.
Donnelly said, “Manufactured housing serves as a vital source of affordable housing for millions of hard-working Americans, many in rural and underserved communities. The industry also employs thousands of Hoosier workers. Working together, we recently passed legislation that is now law to make it easier for families to obtain financing to meet their housing needs. I am honored to receive this award and would like to thank the manufactured housing industry for their commitment to providing affordable housing to American families.”
Joe Stegmayer, Chairman of the Manufactured Housing Institute, said, “Time and again, Senator Donnelly has stood up to champion important policies to ensure manufactured housing fulfills its potential as an affordable homeownership option for people in Indiana and across the nation. Thanks to Senator Donnelly’s leadership and tireless work, Dodd-Frank Act regulations that impeded financing for manufactured housing were changed by the major reform legislation that was recently signed into law. Throughout his career in Congress, Senator Donnelly has always prioritized homeownership for working families through manufactured housing. We are honored to present Senator Donnelly with MHI’s 2018 Champion of Homeownership award in recognition of his leadership and support for the important role manufactured housing has in providing affordable homeownership.”
Donnelly has strongly advocated on behalf of manufactured housing and Americans seeking to purchase these homes. Manufactured housing serves as a vital source of affordable housing for more than 22 million hard-working Americans, putting a roof over the heads of 284,000 Hoosiers and employing as many as 10,000 workers in Indiana.
In 2017, Donnelly worked with Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) to introduce the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, bipartisan legislation that would protect the ability of manufactured home customers to buy, sell, and refinance homes, while maintaining important consumer protections. A version of this legislation was included in the bipartisan Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act that was passed by both the Senate and House and signed by President Trump in May 2018. The provision ensures consumers can receive general financing information from retailers in order to purchase affordable homes.
