House General Laws committee advances dozens of bills; playground-accessibility, appraiser training draw debate

The House General Laws Committee met Oct. 12 and advanced a large group of measures by a combination of block votes, referrals and recorded roll calls, while debating several contested items that drew sustained attention from committee members.

Chairman Simon opened the meeting and said the committee would consider about 25 bills and take several administrative actions, including referring multiple measures to other committees and striking a small number from the docket. The committee recorded a series of unanimous block reports as well as several recorded roll-call votes on contested bills.

The meeting’s most extended discussion occurred during debate on House Bill 1800, patroned by Delegate Cohen, which would add playgrounds to a statutory list of public places where persons with disabilities have the same rights of free and full use. Chairman Seiden said he supported the bill’s goals but opposed the measure on drafting grounds, arguing that creating a list of named public places could prompt future efforts to expand the list and risk creating an implicitly exclusive catalog of required accessible sites. "My concern is just really more of a very lawyerly drafting concern...I'm worried that local governments looking and say, well, that's not on the list," Seiden said. The…