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Committee debates Logan amendment on municipal security-deposit authority and charter approvals
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Summary
Members debated the Logan amendment’s two elements: approving three municipal charter amendments submitted to the legislature and giving towns authority to adopt ordinances governing security deposits. Members worried about tenant confusion, jurisdictional overlap with Government Operations, and lack of testimony.
The House Committee on General & Housing spent a portion of a March 27 meeting discussing the Logan amendment, which would (in part) approve three municipal charter amendments submitted to the legislature and authorize municipalities to adopt ordinances that could provide greater protections on security deposits than state law.
The chair explained that charter amendments submitted by Burlington, Essex and Montpelier require legislative approval and that Government Operations had already met and, according to the chair’s reading of their session, voted unfavorably on the charter approvals (reported as 9-1-0). Committee members said GovOps’ consideration focused on charter jurisdiction and did not fully address the security-deposit instance that may fall within the General & Housing committee’s remit.
Members debated whether the bill’s security-deposit language would create confusion for tenants if towns could adopt different rules. A member noted local ordinances—Burlington’s ordinance limiting security deposits to two months’ rent—could conflict with state law; the chair said the bill (cited in discussion as "7 72") would limit security deposits to no more than two months and that state law would preempt inconsistent local ordinances.
Some committee members said they were willing to support giving towns the authority to adopt supplemental protections, but others said they were uncomfortable moving forward without testimony from municipalities and stakeholders. One member urged that questions about municipal impacts should be worked on in the Senate or addressed with additional testimony before the committee moved the item forward.
Committee members did not record a binding vote on the Logan amendment in this session. Several members urged caution and additional hearings to avoid creating confusing, inconsistent standards for tenants and landlords.
Next steps: the committee did not adopt a formal recommendation; the chair indicated the committee could choose to report an opinion on the first instance (security-deposit authority) to the floor and that related charter approvals may remain with Government Operations.
