State officials testified to the Joint Fiscal Committee on the magnitude of the statewide housing supply shortage, stating that “we cannot buy our way out of this crisis.” Legislative leaders agreed that it will require a coordinated approach and bold strategic solutions to bolster efforts that are already underway. The conversation set the stage for the upcoming legislative session when the Vermont Chamber will be a champion for policy solutions that will work to meet the need for 80,000 new units of housing by 2035.

The testimony confirmed that most communities are not producing enough units to meet current demand, despite $400 million of investment since March of 2020. Last session, the Vermont Chamber routinely advocated that money alone cannot solve this problem, and we will continue to elevate this throughout the upcoming session.