Elizabeth Mauch (Chancellor, Vermont State Colleges) appeared before the Senate Education Committee on Friday afternoon.  She noted that she has been very busy in her first six weeks in the job getting around to the campuses, meeting teachers and students, watching them participate in athletics and academics. She was very impressed with where the system is at this point and looking forward to the work ahead. She commended the outstanding work the VSC Board of Directors has done and their role in strategic oversight to establish the mission, vision, and policies for the VSC system to assure financial stability and accountability. Mauch reports directly to the Board and believes there is mutual accountability and responsibility.

Representative Howard introduced H.608 to the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday morning.  She said it was to help her address the increased crime in the community.  She proposed to put a modest 0.05% property tax surcharge on absentee landlords who do not live in the community.  The money would be used to increase public safety and improve blighted buildings (those that are vacant or abandoned).

Chairwoman Ram Hinsdale reminded the Senate Economic Development Committee about the Housing Survey from the HOME Act in order to know “roughly how much housing we are creating through our funding mechanisms.” She preferred to add language to S.311 least referencing a “healthy vacancy rates… about 5% for rental unit vacancy and 23% for home ownership vacancy…”

On Friday afternoon, Chairwoman Cummings started out the Senate Finance Committee’s review of H.850 by stating that further action would be necessary because “the cost per pupil that is going up in a lot of cases, not your actual spending.” Legislators are looking at school budget spending caps but there are different ways of containing costs.

The Senate Education Committee reviewed S.207 on Thursday Afternoon. The bill requires the Secretary of Education to provide the Legislature with a report and recommendations on governance structures for Vermont’s CTE system by February 1, 2024. The report shall include all information and recommendations necessary to complete the Agency’s work as required under Act 127, Sec. 17.

Chairman McCarthy noted that the House Government Operations Committee would be reviewing Draft 3.2 of the state ethics bill on Wednesday morning and asked Legislative Counsel to review the changes made to previous draft. 

Richard Amore (Planning & Outreach Manager, Department of Housing & Community Development) presented a slide deck to the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday morning.

Joyce Judy (President, Community College of Vermont) told the House Education Committee on Wednesday that CCV is one of two institutions which make up the Vermont State Colleges. They complement each other and present a strong system where 95% of students are Vermonters. They actively serve about 10,000 Vermonters – some are full time and some are just taking one course.

Lauren Oates introduced a number of colleagues on Wednesday morning to help explain the work they do with Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) funding across Vermont. Michael Monte (CEO, Champlain Housing Trust) reviewed a slide deck profiling a number of projects they have worked on. The three projects reviewed will total 1750 homes over time and about 650 will remain perpetually affordable. None of them would have been possible without the support of VHCB.

The House Education Committee reviewed H.817 on Wednesday afternoon. This bill would prohibit the Vermont State Colleges policies regarding residency for tuition purposes from discriminating or excluding a person based solely on the person’s immigration status. This bill also proposes to require the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) to make state-funded financial aid available to all persons who meet the definition of resident, regardless of the person’s immigration status.