Senate institutions committee reviews bill to identify underused state property for housing, names conference members

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, the Senate Institutions committee reviewed a bill introduced in committee as H 55 that would direct state agencies to identify underutilized state-owned buildings and land as part of the BGS inventory and to send screened parcels to the Department of Housing and Community Development for potential housing conversion. Committee members also discussed forming a committee of conference to negotiate outstanding differences between the House and Senate versions.

The bill as discussed attaches to the existing BGS inventory process (section 165 of Title 29). John Ray of the Legislative Council said the Senate proposal and the House proposal differ in several concrete ways: the Senate would include state-leased buildings in the inventory and retain a biannual reporting cadence, while the House limits the inventory to state-owned buildings and land and prefers annual reporting. "A committee of conference is generally limited to differences between proposals from the House and the Senate," Ray said,…