By Guy Page
Governor Phil Scott held a press conference Thursday, June 18 at the State House to address what he described as a critical disconnect between legislative rhetoric and action regarding Vermont’s housing crisis, rural land management, and education system.
Scott, joined by administration officials, lawmakers and rural advocates, argued that the state must embrace “common sense” regulatory relief to make Vermont more affordable
Housing crisis and legislative pushback on wetland rules
Governor Scott expressed deep frustration with the legislature’s progress on housing, noting that despite campaign promises to address the crisis, “at the end of the day, the legislature did very little”.
He specifically targeted a recent decision by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) to reject a proposal reducing wetland buffers from 50 feet to 25 feet. LCAR is a legislative body with non-binding authority to comment on whether state administrative rules follow the letter and intent of the legislation that created them.
Scott argued this “modest rule change” could have paved the way for approximately 2,000 new homes across the state. He highlighted the Prospect Heights project in Barre as a casualty of this regulation, stating that the change would have increased the allowed homes from 90 to 120 and reduced the cost per home by about $25,000.
“When we all come to the table to find common ground and compromise, the policies we pass are far better for Vermont overall,” Scott said, later adding that “the cost of homes exceeds what Vermonters can afford.”
Vermont has long been highly restrictive of development on wetlands, due to concerns for environment impact.
The Scott administration signaled it would continue to maximize existing tools—such as the “Homes for All” toolkit and the “802 Homes” program—but maintained that systemic land-use reform remains the missing piece of the puzzle. Scott concluded by reiterating that addressing the housing crisis will require the legislature to step out of its comfort zone: “When you have a crisis, sometimes you have to do things that are a little uncomfortable.”
Farm owner decries Legislature’s attempted property devaluation
Becky Castle of Fisher Bros. Farm said the Legislature’s attempt to restrict rural property development would have had a disastrous impact on the value of that property. “What absolutely is not the right approach is actively pursuing ways to lessen the value of rural property, an approach that is all too often on display. In order to survive, Vermont agricultural
businesses need the ability to be nimble and innovative.” She praised the Act 181 reform law’s ‘Burt amendment’ that “helps return us to the history of farming when farmers were allowed to come up with and implement new ideas without needing excessive approvals and or being punished by regulatory bodies.”
Opponents of the Act 181 reform bill, and the amendment successfully proposed by Rep. Greg Burt (R-Cabot) to ease restrictions on some non-farm businesses on farmland, worry that facilitating rural development will compromise wildlife habitat and Vermont’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Education reform: H955 and school mergers
On the topic of education, the Governor signaled his signing later last week of H955, a bill aimed at facilitating voluntary school district mergers to improve educational quality and “bend the cost curve.”
While some local officials have called the timelines in the bill “incredibly aggressive,” Scott urged districts to “hit the ground running.”
Secretary of Education Zoe Saunders emphasized that while mergers are voluntary, the standard for student opportunity is not. “Achieving educational quality is not voluntary,” Saunders said, asserting that scaling up districts is necessary to ensure a system where a student’s opportunities are not defined by their community’s wealth.