Subcommittee debates tighter rules, match requirements for historic-preservation grants (House Bill 12)

Representative Kenneth Fitzpatrick's Appropriations Subcommittee F held a work session on House Bill 12, the historic-preservation grant program, focusing on whether the law should be revised to require explicit applicant matches, improve reporting, and tighten funding priorities.

The discussion centered on how the Department of Commerce and the Legislature should evaluate grant requests and whether some statutory clarifications are needed. "Projects funded under this section must provide that a significant portion of the facility be open to the public," Fitzpatrick read from current law, and said the committee could put proposed changes into statute: "we will put it into statute, so that it goes into §22-3-1306." Representative Vinton asked that the grant summaries include the nonprofit recipient names on each line and that…