With the sudden passing of Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch the day before the last day of the legislative session, legislators, staffers, and lobbyists went about their business with heavy hearts. However, in the spirit of the Speaker’s dedication to public service, important work got done. MML had a few pieces of legislation still outstanding on Monday. Legislation to require a housing element in a comprehensive master plan finally moved late last week. HB 1045/SB 917 will require that each jurisdiction that is required to develop a master plan must now include a housing element that addresses low -and-moderate income housing by the June 1, 2020 effective date of the bill.
The League was also tracking SB 203/HB 120 which would have removed urban tree canopy from the definition of “no net loss” forestry definition. While MML did not oppose the legislation, the League did express concern about the fact that street trees would not be considered in the State’s forestation calculation. The bill stalled in the House and did not move, thus ending the effort for this legislative session.
Another bill being tracked by MML was HB 655. This legislation, as introduced, would have required a municipality that issues residential rental licenses to become involved in the payment of HOA and community association fees as a condition of the issuance of a license. MML requested amendments in the House that were added to the bill to take local governments out of the process. The bill was heard in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee late last week, but never received a vote to move the legislation to the Senate floor for further action.
MML will be producing a “Final Report” that will describe all legislation that passed this session related to municipal government. The report will be issued following the final bill signing day in late May. To check on the final status of any legislation tracked by MML, please visit our legislative advocacy page on our website 2019 Bill Position Summary.