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Senate Institutions discusses H 50 amendment, agrees to seek committee of conference
Summary
The Senate Institutions committee reviewed House changes to H 50 that exclude leased buildings from a state housing inventory and add a section listing state parcels for housing; members supported a committee of conference to reconcile differences.
Unidentified Speaker 1, a member of the Senate Institutions committee, opened the Feb. 12 meeting to consider H 50, a bill that updates the state's inventory process related to housing, and noted the House had added an amendment "worthy of discussion." Unidentified Speaker 1 proposed a committee of conference so the two committees "can understand each other's points of view, and we can come to a final conclusion."
The House amendment adds a new provision (noted by Speaker 1 as on page 99, section 1 paragraph e) directing the Commissioner of Building General Services to maintain an inventory that does not include leased buildings. Speaker 1 said they had advocated including leased properties in the inventory but acknowledged that leased property "wouldn't typically be available for housing," while still saying leased property "should be shown somewhere."
A separate addition (referred to by Speaker 1 as section 2 on page 99) would identify state buildings and parcels—described as "partials for housing development"—that could be appropriate for housing projects. Speaker 1 said that identification of state-owned parcels (for example, Windsor) could be useful given the current housing shortage and recalled the committee had considered a similar measure previously.
Unidentified Speaker 2, who identified themself as the committee chair, responded, "I'm the chair. I'm good with whatever you say," and committee members indicated assent during a straw poll on forming a committee of conference. The committee did not hold a formal roll-call vote; members verbally agreed to the suggestion.
The committee agreed to pursue a committee of conference to reconcile the House amendment with the committee's prior work on H 50. No formal action on the bill was recorded during the meeting; the session concluded with the chair adjourning the meeting. The committee's next procedural step is the proposed committee of conference to negotiate the contested amendment between the chambers.
