This two-minute analysis published by the Lake Champlain Chamber outlines key challenges facing the Vermont Legislature: housing, public safety, and affordability.
Housing:
- There is ubiquitous agreement that action is needed on housing, but how? The Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs will start the effort with a plan to vote on the housing bill in early February.
- Act 250 reform will be the center of the bill and seek to drive compact settlements with protected green spaces and a reduced ability to abuse the system to stop needed development.
- Four studies during the off-session on Act 250 and land use regulation have supposedly coalesced into proposed legislation that represents a “grand bargain” for the long-promised dream of modernization.
- Without something done on housing, the state can’t tackle its workforce woes, which continue as the state is at a historic low of 2.1% unemployment, and if every person on unemployment took three open jobs, there would still be unfilled jobs in Vermont.
- These are all driven by our demographic crisis, spelled out in a recent report, and go beyond the workforce to affect tax revenues, housing needs, and volunteerism.
- The Governor highlighted that we need about 6,800 new homes in Vermont right now, which would cost about $3 billion.
- READ MORE BELOW
Public Safety and Quality of Life:
- Meanwhile, the escalating public safety crisis in Vermont has lawmakers unable to look away, as the State’s cherished image and quality of life face erosion in certain areas. A joint hearing on public safety is already scheduled for January 17th, and legislators are primed to address retail theft, court staffing, and recidivism. Read more below.
- However, not all proposals will be helpful; some will be pushing to refer more cases outside the legal system, eliminate cash bail entirely, and revive a “homeless bill of rights”with vague language that might legalize some anti-social behavior if “associated with homelessness.”
- Statutory language to enable two Safe Injection Facilities (H.72) will be among the first priorities for legislators this session after some pre-session testimony on these issues, though this legislation will inevitably be vetoed. Read more here.
Budget and Tax Battles:
- Budget shortfalls will make all of this more challenging. The entire budget is looking at a 1.5% inflationary increase as one-time federal dollars dry up.
- The Governor will try to hold the line at a 3% budget increase.
- Meanwhile, the education fund is looking at a gap of almost three-quarters of a billion dollars that could result in an 18.5% spike in the property tax rate, as forecast early in December.
- This comes at a time when there is considerable angst about how our unique system of statewide education funding is implementing per-pupil weighting changes, and school capital construction costs have snowballed to nearly $6 billion.
- Flood recovery will add some stress to the budget while climate resiliency will be high on the agenda and integrated into most conversations, given the two catastrophic flooding events the state faced this year.