Appropriations subcommittee narrows House Bill 50 to an inventory of state properties for affordable housing

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections & Institutions on Thursday narrowed discussion of House Bill 50 to a proposed inventory of state-owned land, buildings and parking lots that might be suitable for conversion to affordable housing.

Committee chair (committee chair) said the panel should start with an inventory and then decide later how identified properties would be conveyed or developed. "Maybe we just dial it back a little bit and just really focus on who does the inventory," the chair said during the meeting.

Connor (committee member), who presented a draft of the bill, described the bill’s purpose as “to facilitate the development of affordable housing by identifying underutilized state owned properties that could be converted to housing units.” Connor said the draft would place responsibility for producing a report with candidate properties with the secretary of administration, in consultation with Buildings and General Services (BGS), the Agency of Transportation (AOT) and the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR). He said the report would aim to prioritize parcels near existing infrastructure, such as water and sewer hookups and public transportation.

Officials and committee members raised practical limits and legal constraints on conveying state property. A representative of BGS (BGS staff) told the subcommittee that jurisdiction for many parcels rests with BGS and that the secretary of administration taking responsibility for the inventory would be a new element that needs discussion. The staff member also warned that if federal funds were used when the state originally acquired a parcel, selling the land might trigger federal payback obligations.

Members debated whether the legislation should authorize transfers at a nominal fee (a provision in the draft said a “nominal fee not to exceed $1”), or require fair-market-value sales in some cases. Several members said the legislative role should remain central: identified properties would still need legislative authorization — generally through the capital bill or a similar legislative approval — before conveyance.

Several committee members urged that the inventory include both availability and capacity of utilities. "Availability and capacity," one member said, noting that a parcel may appear serviceable but lack wastewater or drinking-water capacity to support development. Members suggested criteria for the inventory such as proximity to service areas or downtowns, access to electrical, water and sewer hookups, and proximity to public transportation; they also recommended including feasibility flags (for example, where utility capacity is insufficient).

The subcommittee directed staff to have BGS reach out to the secretary of administration and to coordinate with ACCD (the Agency of Commerce and Community Development), AOT and ANR. The committee agreed the immediate work product should be an inventory returned to the Legislature; further decisions about how properties would be transferred, whether at a nominal fee or for market value, and what development criteria would apply should follow that inventory.

Committee members noted the inventory could catalyze interest from nonprofit developers and local governments but also cautioned about unintended outcomes, such as giving a parcel at low cost and then funding additional state dollars for private or market-rate development. The chair summarized the committee’s direction: focus the bill on producing a usable inventory prepared by the secretary of administration in consultation with BGS, AOT, ANR and ACCD, then bring the inventory back to the Legislature for decisions about conveyance and parameters.

Next steps identified by the subcommittee include asking BGS to confer with the secretary of administration and ACCD and to bring those officials in to testify in a subsequent meeting. The committee set as its near-term goal getting the inventory work organized in time to inform capital-bill deliberations later in the session.