JANUARY 15, 2024

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee reviewed S.211 on Friday. Senators Lyons, Clarkson, and Kitchel had sponsored the bill.

The House Ways & Means Committee reviewed H.679 on Friday morning with Representative Stevens, the sponsor. He recognized that changing the use of the Property Transfer Tax (PTT) is a political decision, but he feels the state needs to start addressing the housing crisis with these funds. He is proposing to create a surcharge for properties over $600k of 2.0% (an increase from 1.5%).

The Senate Finance Committee had the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) review S.160 on Friday afternoon to review a fiscal note on the bill. The bill would reimburse municipalities for education property tax payments to property owners who had their properties damaged during this past year’s flooding events.

On Thursday the House Education Committee had Legislative Counsel walk through a summary of H.677, which is intendent to provide funding for statewide student support system. The bill, as introduced, would make two separate appropriations totaling $800,000 from the Education Fund.

Chairman Marcotte introduced Representative Brumsted as Co-Chair of the Government Accountability Committee along with Senator Brock. Brumsted shared with the House Commerce Committee that she has served in the Legislature nearly eight years and she was partly responsible for “sunsetting the previous committee” as the statutory authority was not sufficient.

Chairwoman Ram-Hinsdale introduced Representative Hango to the Senate Economic Development Committee on Thursday. Hango gave a simple and emotional endorsement of H.719 and mentioned some experiences surround the lack of housing in her and other legislator’s districts. Read more…

The House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee held a joint hearing on Wednesday to cover concerns surrounding public safety. Jennifer Morrison (Commissioner, Department of Public Safety) talked about the lack of accountability. Even those arrested note that Vermont has a reputation for being soft on crime and has a catch and release policy without any regard to the harm being done by repeat offenders. While police continue to do their job of seeking out and arresting criminals, their actions must be accompanied by consequences.

On Wednesday, three different Committees took up housing and land use issues. The Senate focused on a new proposed Act 250 framework that would change the incentive structure and land access for housing. The House Committees covered some of this as well, but also heard from non-profits asking for more investments in permanently affordable rental housing.