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Conference committee debates trails language; considers moving provision to DMV bill or delaying effective date
Summary
Members of the conference committee on transportation discussed a remaining dispute over trails language in a transportation bill, weighing three options—leave the language, remove it, or keep it with a delayed effective date—and agreed to pursue more testimony and a legislative vehicle rather than reach a final decision in the session.
Members of the conference committee on transportation met to resolve a remaining disagreement over a provision about trails in a transportation bill, discussing whether to keep the provision, remove it or include it with a delayed effective date.
The committee’s deliberations centered on a lawsuit and uncertainty about who is responsible for maintenance of trails built on public road rights-of-way. Committee members said towns and nonprofit trail groups need clarity to avoid disruption to trail maintenance this spring and summer, but other members urged caution, noting legal questions could make immediate action imprudent.
Committee members outlined three options: leave the trails language in the transportation bill as written; remove the language; or keep it but set a future effective date (discussed in the meeting as roughly 12–18 months, with one suggestion pointing to June 2026). Several members said keeping language with a delayed effective date would preserve the option of later amendment and would put an intention on the record while allowing further work next winter.
Some members described the practical risk if the committee did not act. One committee member said town trail organizations and municipalities are uncertain whether they can legally perform maintenance this season, a prospect that could cause economic loss for communities that rely on trails for recreation and local business activity. Others stressed that taking action now might require towns to renegotiate maintenance agreements and could open municipalities to new obligations if the court rules differently.
Members discussed legislative strategy to resolve the disagreement. The chair of the House Transportation Committee said the committee could spend the next two weeks taking additional testimony from towns and trail groups and asked whether the trails language could be added to a miscellaneous DMV bill or another vehicle where germaneness could be resolved. A staff member identified as Betsy Ann reviewed the DMV bill language and raised procedural questions about germaneness; committee members disagreed about which chamber would rule on germaneness if the language were moved.
Leadership pressure was also reported: the group said the president pro tempore’s office and others asked that the money bills be completed and that this issue be resolved "no later than Monday." No motion or vote was taken in the conference committee during the discussion, and members did not adopt final language.
The committee agreed to continue trying to find a legislative vehicle and to gather more testimony. If no vehicle is found immediately, members said they would consider leaving the provision in the transportation bill with a delayed effective date so the language would exist while allowing further work in the next session.
Absent a formal committee action, the matter will return to future sessions or to the court process referenced by members.
