Committee tables HB 1315 after infrastructure, sovereign‑immunity concerns

Representative Carpenter presented HB 1315 to restrict rolling temporary moratoria and provide developers a civil remedy to recover carrying costs, loss of development value, and increased ad valorem taxes when a local moratorium is improperly extended.

GMA and ACCG urged caution, saying short statutory limits (e.g., 180 days) may not be sufficient for financing major infrastructure projects such as multi‑million‑dollar water or sewage treatment plants; they also warned that any waiver of sovereign immunity effectively makes local taxpayers liable for judgments. Builders and developers urged guardrails to prevent arbitrary moratoria that indefinitely delay projects.

Chairman Thomas moved to table HB 1315 and return it to subcommittee for further work; the motion passed and the bill was laid on the table for additional drafting.

What happens next: HB 1315 will go back to subcommittee where authors and county associations will try to reconcile infrastructure financing timelines and liability concerns before it is brought back to committee.