HOME STAR Act Passes the House of Representatives
Rep. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts addressing the U.S. House of Representatives before today's vote on the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010
By a vote of 246 to 161, the House of Representatives today voted to approve the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 (H.R. 5019), which authorizes creation of a national energy retrofit program for American homeowners. The vote marks a significant milestone in the progress of the bipartisan HOME STAR legislation, although it’s important to note that the authorization bill passed today must be matched by the Senate, and followed up with an appropriation bill to allocate funds for the $6 billion program.
“We applaud the U.S. House on the passage of the bipartisan HOME STAR legislation,” Efficiency First chairman Mike Rogers said following the vote. “HOME STAR will create good American jobs in construction, manufacturing and related industries. It will help American homeowners improve the efficiency of their homes and save money. And it will provide a solid foundation for our country’s energy policy and energy security. We encourage the Senate to act quickly to get the HOME STAR bill to the President’s desk and get our workers back on the job.”
Efficiency First policy chair Matt Golden added that “Today’s bipartisan passage of the HOME STAR bill in the U.S. House of Representatives shows how when industry, labor, business and environmental groups cooperate, we can find solution for America. HOME STAR will create hundreds of thousands of good quality jobs, while saving families money on energy bills. Efficiency First, representing companies in all 50 states employing over 150,000 American works, applauds Congress’s leadership and vision on this important issue.”
In the past four days, approximately 50,000 HOME STAR Coalition supporters called Congress urging their support of HOME STAR. The difference you make in passing this legislation has been essential to its passage. Thank you for your help.
As attention now turns to the Senate, Efficiency First will continue its strong advocacy for the HOME STAR program, which was designed to stimulate rapid job creation in construction and related manufacturing and retail by boosting demand for residential energy efficiency improvements. More information is available at www.efficiencyfirst.org/home-star.
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An ACCA Press Release says:
“In a victory for ACCA, the legislation finally passed by the House on Thursday afternoon included a last-minute amendment which stated that program rebates should be paid to the homeowner, not the contractor.
“We salute the House for recognizing that this proposed rebate program cannot succeed if it requires contractors to become bankers,” said Paul T. Stalknecht, ACCA President & CEO. “The small, community-based businesses that provide the overwhelming majority of jobs in the environmental services sector must have a full and equal opportunity for participation, or else this proposal will not achieve its goals.”"
We at Comfort Institute had also heard many concerns from contractors about small business cash flow problems that would have resulted from the original rebate aggregator plan. Any comment on this whole issue from Efficiency First, or other inside players?
Dear sirs,
I’ve been out of the country, subsequently out of touch.
Can you please tell me if there has been ANY update on approval and or the ‘signing off on’ HR 5019 or ‘HomeStar’ (cash for clunckers)program.
Your site is very informative to both contractors, as well as consumers.
Please keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
D. Hewitt
Dear Sirs,
Is there any provision for retroactive payment of these incentives? We are currently doing a full gut retrofit of an existing home and are complying with all the inspection requirements/ contractor requirements of this bill as if it were law. We will probably be finished before this bill is law. Can we take advantage of any part of the rebates outside of The current Energy Star rebates?
Thanks, Yours, Kimberley