Committee advances House Bill 273 despite GOP opposition over fiscal impact

The House Appropriations Committee voted to rereport House Bill 273 to the full House as committed after committee Republicans registered opposition on fiscal grounds.

The committee executive director summarized the bill at the chair’s request: “House Bill 273 amends Title 53 to create a county property maintenance code and establish the municipal codes enforcement grant program within the Department of Community and Economic Development and the Municipal Neighborhood Mitigation Fund.”

A Republican committee member objected on appropriation grounds, saying the committee lacked information on fiscal impacts and that “we have some serious challenges ahead of us looking at revenues and expenditures,” and concluded, “So at this time, Republicans will be a no on this bill.”

Chairman Harris responded that the committee record shows no funding has yet been allocated to the fund, saying, “At this time, there's no funding allocated to this particular fund. But, the gentleman's comments are duly noted.” The committee then proceeded to a party-line recording: Democrats were recorded voting in the affirmative and Republicans were recorded in the negative; the chair announced that “the ayes have it” and that HB 273 would be rereported from the committee to the floor.

Why it matters: HB 273 would create a county property maintenance code and a new municipal grant program administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development and tied to the Municipal Neighborhood Mitigation Fund — a structural change that the committee’s Republican members said carries fiscal implications that were not laid out in the committee record. The chair explicitly noted no funding allocation had been made for the program during the committee session.

Next steps: HB 273 will be rereported to the full House as committed and may receive further consideration on the House floor, where fiscal notes and appropriation language would typically be addressed.