Conference committee reconciles House–Senate changes to state property inventory bill

A three-on-three conference committee of House and Senate members met March 10 to reconcile differences in a bill referred to in the session as “age 50,” which would require an inventory of state properties for possible conversion to housing. Representative Wayne Harrison (Wyndham District) opened the meeting and said the panel convened to review Senate changes returned to the House and to craft agreed language for a final bill.

Representative James Gregoire (Franklin 6) explained the House’s key edits, including removing the phrase “state leased” from the Senate text because the House was uncertain what “state leased” meant in practice and worried leased space could limit the state’s ability to convert properties to housing. Gregoire said the House also changed reporting from “biannually” to “annually” to match current administrative practice with the agencies that would produce the inventory. “We weren’t really sure what you meant by state leased,” Gregoire said, and the frequency change was made after conversations with the administration and with agencies such as BGS and the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Gregoire described another edit that replaces language requiring vacancy only when a property is “necessary for the statutory purpose of the agency” with a broader test that a building or land is “unnecessary for state purposes.” He said staff and counsel advised the change because not every agency has a clearly delineated statutory purpose that would fit the narrower phrasing.

The House added a Section 2 that Gregoire said largely mirrors the governor’s existing executive order but extends the requirement into a five-year tracking mechanism through 2030 rather than a one-year executive order, giving the state time to review and reexamine the inventory over multiple years. “Rather than a 1 year executive order, making it a 5 year thing … it would give us an idea of what’s out there,” he said.

Senate members questioned the removal of leased property from the inventory. Representative Harrison defended the Senate’s original inclusion, saying tracking leased resources helps account for the state’s operational needs and budgetary costs. Harrison noted leasing can be more expensive than owning and said the committee should compare options before disposing of owned space.

Representative John Benson (Orange District), a retired civil engineer, urged a parallel or follow-up analysis to prioritize properties for conversion, suggesting the committee or a future bill identify a manageable subset of candidate properties (for example, five to ten sites) with desktop checks for zoning, water, wetlands and other practical criteria so developers would have viable conversion targets rather than a broad, unfocused list. “If our objective really is to identify lands or buildings that could be converted into housing and done, fairly quickly, this bill leaves a lot of pieces out,” Benson said, summarizing the need for deeper feasibility work.

Members agreed on the committee’s intent — to produce an initial inventory that can be refined — and on the need to clarify “lease” language. Gregoire offered to draft revised statutory language on the spot and briefly step out to prepare a version the committee could vote on; members noted they would be available to continue work the following day. No formal motion or vote was recorded in the transcript; the committee adjourned after the group agreed to reconvene with Gregoire’s edits.

The discussion highlighted three substantive editorial changes the House sought to the Senate text: removing “state leased” from the inventory scope, changing reporting to an annual requirement, and replacing the narrower “statutory purpose” test with a broader “unnecessary for state purposes” standard. The House also proposed institutionalizing a multi-year tracking requirement modeled on the governor’s executive order through 2030. Lawmakers flagged the need for follow-up analysis to prioritize candidate properties and for clearer statutory definitions of leasing and inventory criteria before any final vote.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: Gregoire will draft revised bill language for committee review; the committee planned to reconvene and consider a vote after that draft is produced. The transcript does not record a formal vote, amendment adoption, or an enacted deadline beyond the proposed five-year tracking period.