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Senate backs annual inventory of underused state buildings and land, adds reporting requirements
Summary
The Senate supported committee amendments to H.50 to require the Department of Buildings and General Services to include land and vacancy status in its inventory and to deliver an updated inventory automatically every two years to the relevant House and Senate committees.
The Vermont Senate on May 16, 2025, voted to propose to the House amendments to H.50 that expand the state’s inventory of property to include land, add an annual (automatic) filing cycle and require agencies to indicate whether buildings are vacant or land is unnecessary for state purposes.
Senator Robert Douglas (Senator from Orleans District), reporting for the Senate Institutions Committee, said the bill expands the Department of Buildings and General Services’ biennial space inventory to include land and to require agencies to indicate unused or vacant property. The committee added two words in its amendment — inserting "or state lease" at the beginning of the bill’s text — and made the inventory process automatic rather than occurring only at the commissioner’s request.
Under the committee amendment, the commissioner will submit the inventory on or before June 15 of each new biennium to the House Committee on Corrections and the Senate Institutions Committee. The committee heard from the Department of Buildings and General Services commissioner and planning director and reported a committee vote of 4-0-1 in favor of the recommendation.
Senators discussed a local example. The senator identified as "Senator from Windsor" referenced the former Windsor prison site as an underutilized property and urged the Institutions Committee to address that case separately; the committee reporter said the proposal was presented too late for this bill and required more information. The senator identified as "Senator from Washington" asked whether the statutory phrase "unnecessary for state purposes" has a defined list of state purposes; the reporter said that language originated in the House and the committee had not discussed federal implications or a definition.
The Senate proposed the committee amendments to the House by voice vote and ordered third reading of H.50.
Next steps: The amended bill proceeds to the House for consideration; the Department of Buildings and General Services will be required to provide the updated inventory on the schedule set in the bill.
