Successful leadership on housing displayed by the Rural Caucus and Speaker Jill Krowinski culminated with the House Environment & Energy Committee passing an amendment to the HOME bill with a vote of 11-0-0. The amendment incorporates many aspects of the Rural Caucus amendment advocated for by the Vermont Chamber. This includes increasing the Act 250 jurisdictional threshold increase for housing units from 10 to 25 units in downtowns, neighborhood development areas, growth centers, and village centers. With paid family and medical leave off the table this session, the Vermont Chamber is now working to secure any newly available funds for the Revolving Loan Fund to allow employers to invest in housing solutions for their workers. 

While the bill does not meet the full potential of what was originally passed out of the Senate Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs Committee, the version now up for a vote on the House Floor exceeds the version that was previously passed out of the Senate. Additional amendments to the bill are expected to be debated on the House floor next week and further conversation on Act 250 modernization is set to take place next session. 

Amendments to the bill achieve the following: 

• Permits the Department of Housing and Community Development to use up to 20% of municipal planning funds to help towns meet neighborhood development area requirements.  
• Adds a Regional Planning Report that requires the Vermont Association of Planning and Development Agencies to study improving coordination between municipal, regional, and state planning. 
• Tasks the Natural Resources Board with determining what is required to create a municipal delegation process. 
• Includes a Rural Recovery Council to strengthen coordination in rural economic development, housing resource navigators to work with local organizations and private developers, and a directive to eliminate redundancies in state permitting requirements. 
• Returns the number of people who can appeal a municipal zoning permit from 1 to 10.  

The omnibus housing legislation is entitled the “HOME” bill, which stands for housing opportunities made for everyone. However, S.100 is currently in the House Environment and Energy Committee, where there are some efforts to do the opposite and restrict the ability to develop housing while others fight to keep their promises to constituents. The Vermont Chamber continues to advocate for an amendment put forward by the Rural Caucus, which would expand exemptions, an important compromise with those who are opposed to any change at all. Before the start of the session, the Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski stated that “housing, housing, housing” was at the top of her priority list. It remains to be seen if legislation coming out of the House will rise to meet the overwhelming demand for workforce housing. 

In written testimony submitted to the House Energy and Environment Committee, the Vermont Chamber explained that the amendment would make responsible and reasonable amendments to Act 250 thresholds and address capacity issues as they relate to housing to support the development of housing in every county of Vermont. S.100 does include important steps to address local zoning and regulatory barriers to create a continuum of workforce housing opportunities. 

Many legislators in the House appear committed to promises made on the campaign trail to prioritize meaningful action on housing. In particular, a group of legislators in the House General and Housing Committee stood up for their constituents in response to House leadership giving sole jurisdiction on land use, zoning, and Act 250 to the House Energy and Environment Committee. A heated debate on committee jurisdiction ensued, with several committee members concerned that politics is hindering good policy. 

Legislators such as Reps. Caleb Elder (Addison-4), Ashley Bartley (Franklin-1), and Saudia LaMont (Lamoille-Washington), fought for the opportunity to have important discussions about regulations that are deeply impacting Vermont’s Housing crisis. Several of these same regulations were supported by the Senate Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs Committee before being altered by the Senate Natural Resources Committee. 

While no action was taken on Act 250, the bill as passed out of the committee does support several programs the Vermont Chamber has advocated for, including the Vermont Housing Improvement Program, the Revolving Loan Fund, and the Missing Middle-Income Homeownership Development Program. The committee ultimately passed the bill out of committee 8-4. The bill will now officially be taken up by the House Energy and Environment Committee to review the bill sections dealing directly with Act 250 and zoning.