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Article published Jun 12, 2009 Blount unaffected by House bill to enact residential building code
From Staff and Wire Reports
NASHVILLE -- The House has approved Gov. Phil Bredesen's proposal to enact a minimum residential building code around Tennessee, but included a provision to allow local governments to opt out.
Under a change adopted Thursday, local governments in the 60 counties that don't have building codes would have to vote against participating on a two-thirds vote after every general election.
The change won't mean anything locally. Blount County is one of the 35 counties that already have building codes."We've got them," County Mayor Jerry Cunningham said. "I would hope we just leave them the way they are."
The House voted 82-12 to approve the bill by Democratic Rep. Les Winningham of Huntsville. Maryville Reps. Joe McCord and Bob Ramsey both voted for the bill.
The measure had become bogged down by attempts to exclude a number of counties before the opt-out provision was added.
Rep. Charles Curtiss of Sparta was the only Democrat to vote against the bill because he said the final version had "gutted" its intent.
"Ten years from now there's going to be counties in this state (where) the homeowner is not going to be protected, there's nobody inspecting the work and there's nobody making sure it's energy efficient," he said.
Republican Rep. Phillip Johnson of Pegram, a home inspector and a co-sponsor of the bill, agreed it would have been stronger if it had required the code to be established in all counties.
"But I feel like this is a decent compromise," he said.
The Senate previously passed the bill 28-1, but would have to agree to the opt-out provision before it could head for the Democratic governor's signature.
There is no current statewide residential building code, though the Department of Commerce and Insurance does electrical inspections in areas that don't currently set minimum standards.
The measure also includes a way for distributing about $99 million in federal stimulus funds aimed at improving weatherization in lower-income homes.
Eligibility for the program to provide improvements like weather-stripping and insulation would be expanded to families with incomes up to double the federal poverty limit, or about $44,100 for a family of four. The previous income limit for the same-sized family was about $27,500.
Other elements of the proposal include requiring increased energy efficiency in state buildings and vehicles and expanding tax incentives for job creation in the green energy field.