Senate Institutions delays consideration of Watson amendment to H 50 after questions over inventory language

The Senate Institutions Committee on May 20 deferred further action on an amendment to House Bill 50 that would require state agencies to note in regular inventories whether buildings are vacant and whether land is unnecessary for “state purposes,” including the statutory policy and purposes of each agency.

Senator Watson introduced the proposed change to H 50 during a special morning meeting and said the amendment would add language clarifying that state agencies’ inventories should consider “the statutory policy and purposes of any state agency.” Watson said the language was intended to anchor what counts as state purposes. "I'm proposing that latter clause," she said during the committee discussion.

Committee counsel Ray of the Office of the Council told members the inventory requirement is an information-gathering exercise and does not itself authorize sale or disposition of property. "This is just saying for the inventorying, the head of an agency should note if they think there's no use for this property... but it is not dictating selling off that property. It's just getting information," Ray said.

Several senators raised concerns that the inventory language could be read as creating pressure to dispose of state land. Senator Ingalls said the amendment could force department heads to "start justifying all of their holdings" and warned that property viewed as "useless" today may gain value later. "I just see this opening up for the state to have now having to justify for every piece of land that they have. And, if not, then, okay. Well, let's sell it," Ingalls said.

Other members framed the measure as an update to a previously issued inventory and as a way to surface underutilized parcels for future policy decisions such as housing. Members noted the bill's original drafting sought to identify public land that might be available for housing but that explicit housing language was removed prior to the committee. A committee member described the amendment as intended to help future legislators and to provide more on-the-ground detail to the commissioner who compiles statewide property data.

The Bureau of General Services (referred to in the discussion as BGS) currently collects inventories from agencies, including square footage and usage. The amendment would ask agency heads to add whether they consider particular buildings or parcels underutilized. Supporters said naming agencies' statutory purposes in the inventory would encourage agencies to consider conservation or other statutory functions when characterizing properties; counsel said the amendment does not narrow the broader concept of "state purposes." "When they think about what state purposes are in making that determination, they need to think about the statutory policy and purposes within [the] state agency," Ray said.

Committee members gave examples to illustrate concerns and possibilities. One senator recounted receiving 16 acres once deemed "useless" that later was subdivided and sold, and another cited a parcel with roughly 400 feet of lake frontage on Lake Memphremagog that might be valuable despite a change in immediate use.

After about 25 minutes of discussion and questions, members agreed to pass over the bill so they could obtain more information and hear from agency representatives. "Why don't we pass over it today? We'll have this conversation again in another meeting," a member said, and the committee paused consideration with no formal vote recorded.

The committee identified next steps including bringing an agency official (a member asked specifically for "Wanda" to appear) and additional legal review before taking further action on the amendment to H 50.