Brooke Olsen-Farrell (Superintendent, Slate Valley Supervisory Union) shared that their budget failed by a 464-vote margin. Voters in her district seem to “pride themselves on keeping education spending low.” Despite being among the lowest spending in the state and being “advantaged” by Act 127.

A joint presentation was made to the House Commerce Committee on Thursday about Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Will Belongia (Executive Director, Vermont Community Loan Fund) opened up the presentation with an overview of CDFIs do. He shared that they are community-based organizations that expand economic opportunity and provide financial products and services to individuals and businesses often underserved by traditional financial institutions. The CDFI designation is given by the US Department of Treasury to organizations that have a primary mission of community development and a proven track record of providing financial products and services to underserved communities. CDFIs include credit unions, loan funds, venture capital funds, and banks. They go through a rigorous application process and must recertify every year.

Senator Bray provided an overview of S.305 to the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon. He described the bill as creating a number of fixes. He reminded Senators that they had passed the Energy Efficiency Modernization Act in 2020, which was a three-year pilot program allowing electrical efficiency utilities to use $2M of efficiency charge money for pilot projects focused on energy reduction. However, the climate crisis is being driven by the thermal sector and transportation so they asked them to see if they could find solutions in these areas.

H.10 was presented in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Representative Toleno spoke for the Committee on Appropriations, reporting in favor of its passage.

Representative from the House Commerce Committee presented a revised version of H.707 on the House floor on Wednesday. The bill is an overhaul of Vermont’s workforce governance oversight which focused on workforce development, education, and training.  The recommendations made in the bill are a direct result of the creative of a task force in 2022 consisting of key players with the State workforce system and a workforce specialist consultant. 

Legislative Counsel began the House Ways & Means Committee meeting on Wednesday with a discussion regarding the inclusion of Career and Technical Education centers (CTEs) in the Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) model that in H.630. 

S.246, which amends the Vermont basic needs budget, appeared on the Senate Floor on Wednesday afternoon. Senator Clarkson outlined the members that assisted in a Technical Advisory Committee. They reviewed the Basic Needs Budget and Livable Wage metrics which are assessed by the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) biennially and presented to the Senate Committees.

The House Ways and Means Committee reviewed H.874 on Wednesday.

The bill proposes several amendments to education law in Vermont. The amendments include repealing the High School Completion Program and making changes to the State's adult education and literacy program. The bill also aims to continue funding for the community schools program, require school districts to include military-related options in career development and postsecondary planning resources, and require the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) to include information on military-related options in planning resources.

Chairman Marcotte presented Jessica Hartleben (Executive Director, Vermont Economic Progress Council) to the House Commerce Committee on Tuesday morning. She focused her presentation on the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) and a proposed forgivable loan incentive. She shared that the Council supports S.247 as it sends a message to the business community that “Vermont is encouraging businesses to come… stay… and create better workforce opportunities for Vermonters.”