Committee advances bill allowing temporary shelter units for refugees on religious property; raises questions about scope

The Planning & Development Committee on Monday advanced an act authorizing temporary shelter units for persons experiencing homelessness and for refugees on property owned by religious organizations.

Representative Zullo, who said the measure had been “heavily negotiated” in 2024, described internal conflict about outstanding concerns but said she would support raising the concept now so lawmakers can hear from stakeholders. “As I walked in today, I was gonna I was gonna oppose this, but I’m gonna support it today because it it's important to have this conversation,” she said.

The clerk called a roll-call vote. The transcript records more affirmative votes than negative votes on the record; members voting yes included Senator Grama, Representative Cavros DeGraw, Senator Gordon and others, while votes recorded as no included Representative Dubitsky, Senator Fazio and Representative Haines. The roll-call in the record shows the measure carried.

Committee members did not finalize statutory language during the meeting; the action was to raise the bill for further committee consideration. The chair noted votes would remain open until 3 p.m. for any members joining or correcting their recorded vote.

Next steps: The committee advanced the concept so staff can prepare a bill draft and schedule it for future consideration and public hearing.