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Committee clears amendment to strip appropriations from H.772 and add contingency language
Summary
The House Committee on General and Housing considered an Appropriations Committee amendment to H.772 that removes specific appropriations and replaces them with contingency language, making implementation of certain programs dependent on a fiscal-year appropriation; members discussed budget trade-offs and the status of rental arrears funding in the current draft budget.
The House Committee on General and Housing on March 29 reviewed an Appropriations Committee amendment to H.772 that removes the bill's appropriation sections and inserts contingency language tying program implementation to a future fiscal-year appropriation.
Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Counsel told the committee "the amendment is straightforward," explaining that three instances of contingency language were added so the positive rental payment pilot and a CVOEO landlord-and-tenant training requirement would proceed only if a fiscal year '27 appropriation is made for those purposes. "Because the appropriations have been removed from the bill, the committee is adding ... standard contingency language," Wood said.
Committee members framed the amendment in the context of the broader budget. One member said the Appropriations Committee had roughly $275 million in requests above the government baseline and had prioritized rental arrears assistance. Wood noted the rental arrears program appeared in the current draft of the budget while the other appropriations from H.772 had not been included. Committee members discussed how the Joint Fiscal Office consolidated and ranked requests from advocates, agencies and legislators to inform the committee's first cut.
The committee took a straw poll on the appropriations amendment that would strip specific funding language from the bill and leave program details contingent on the budget process. Members expressed a range of positions, with several saying they supported consolidating appropriations into the budget process while others said the change merited further review before a final vote.
Why it matters: stripping appropriations from policy bills and handling funding through the budget is standard practice; the change shifts the timing and certainty of program funding. Committee members noted that some programs might be restored later in the Senate or during budget adjustments.
The committee moved on to consider a separate amendment addressing tenant protections for victims of domestic abuse. No final, formal vote on H.772 was recorded during this meeting; the Appropriations amendment was handled as part of the committee's internal process and by committee straw polling.
