The Legislature’s second week was marked by some action on two of the three key issues we highlighted in last week’s update: housing and public safety.  We got our first look at tri-partisan legislation on housing with good momentum and The House and Senate Committee on Judiciary tackled philosophical elements of penalties, deterrence, timeliness, and the integration of orthodox versus novel justice systems, all while the House passed the legal framework for Safe Injections Sites.

 

Jump into what is in this week's update: Housing unites a tri-partisan coalition around a bill  Navigating perspectives: criminal justice challenges and approval of safe injection facilities  Greenhouse gas emissions and climate resiliency  The Laundry List  Bills of Interest

 

View this week's report

 

The first few days of the 2024 session will be marked by opening addresses, reintroductions and the setting of legislative priorities. A few committees will dive right in and pick up where they left with hearings on legislation already in the works from last session. The week is likely to be dominated by hearings on the state’s response to this past summers’ flooding. Administration officials will testify in a joint meeting of the House Transportation and Energy and Environment committees, and the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs will hear stories from flood affected communities. Several bills related to flood recovery and resiliency are expected to be introduced. 

 

Note: Legislative Committee Agendas are updated frequently throughout each day. The latest committee schedule can be found on this link. A list of weekly hearings for all committees can be found here.

 

Below are new bills of interest.

 

H.610	An act relating to making home modifications for safety and livability
H.540	An act relating to the siting of tiny houses
H.530	An act relating to increasing the property tax credit housesite value exclusion

The Association and members have been busy since the end of the legislative session in May, working on the updates to Residential Building Energy Standards (RBES) and participating in several study committees related to Act 250 and housing development.

RBES -  

Vermont statute requires that RBES are updated promptly after the issuance of updated standards from the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). To meet the latest IECC code, the Public Service Department began the process of updating Vermont’s rules regarding energy code  a year ago, with multiple opportunities for stakeholders to provide input and feedback, and a targeted effective date of fall 2023.

From the start, an engaged team* of VBRA members have been advocating and contributing from the perspective of builders.  Our basic position is this: 

·       Vermont has no building code and no state agency having jurisdiction over residential construction, therefore no inspection and no enforcement.

·       With each rewrite, the RBES code becomes more complex and intricate, with precious few resources devoted to training and no resources devoted to compliance.

·       Compliance with energy code - currently estimated to be at 54% - drops with each new code update.

·       As the compliance rates drop with each subsequent version of the code, it is unlikely that the state will be able to meet its 2030 goal of “net-zero ready construction” for all newly constructed buildings.

·       The new energy code will add an estimated $17,000 - $30,000 to the cost of new home construction. With no oversight the gap between builders who construct to code and those who do not continues to widen, creating an unfair marketplace.  

Despite expert testimony from builders, the Public Service Department forged ahead with an RBES update that met IECC code, but did not address builders’ concerns. When an agency of state government is charged with designing rules to implement and enforce the statutes passed by the Vermont Legislature, those rules must be approved and adopted by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR). Made up of State Senators and Representatives,  LCAR's primary function is to ensure that the proposed rules are consistent with the intent and authority granted to the agencies by the Legislature. They review rules to make sure they comply with Vermont law and do not exceed the authority granted to the agencies, and they have the authority to approve, reject, or recommend changes to proposed rules.

Our team* testified at several LCAR meetings and, remarkably, we were successful at persuading the committee that our concerns needed further scrutiny, and they voted to delay adoption of the new RBES until July 1, 2024. We effectively argued that rule adoption should wait until a summer study committee on RBES had finished its work and submitted recommendations on how to increase compliance to the legislature. 

We are in the middle of that study committee now.  VBRA has several members appointed to the fifteen-member committee. As outlined above, our position is that RBES without underlying building code, an agency having jurisdiction and a system of inspection and enforcement will fail. Moreover, proper training is a must – without it construction under faulty building science will lead to damaged and unhealthy homes.

The RBES study committee expects to finalize its report and recommendations in the next few weeks and deliver the legislature for possible legislation.

*Many thanks to VBRA members Jim Bradley (Hayward Design Build), Jason Webster (Huntington Homes), Collin Frisbie (Sterling Homes) and Denis Bourbeau (Bourbeau Custom Homes).   A great deal of credit and special thanks also goes to Sandra Vitzthum, Architect and representative of the Vermont chapter of American Institute of Architects, and a brand new VBRA member!  This team has devoted many hours of time to committee meetings, written and in-person testimony, outreach and strategy meetings, all on behalf of the home building community in Vermont. Your membership at work!

Act 250 -

Last session’s housing bill, S.100 (Act 47), made incremental changes to municipal zoning laws that slow housing development. It also allowed more units for a project in designated areas without triggering and Act 250 permit.  

S.100 also created several study committees that could impact new legislation this upcoming session, including:

·       An evaluation and modernization project on the states Designated Area Programs, to review how well the programs are working and develop recommendations for their future, and how Act 250 figures into them.

·       A legislative study on “Necessary Updates to the Act 250 Program,” focusing on how to transition to a system in which Act 250 jurisdiction is based on location, a proposed  framework needed to create a municipal delegation process for Act 250, an assessment of the current level of staffing of the Board and District Commissions, and whether increasing jurisdictional thresholds for housing development to 25 units would affect housing affordability.

Pre-legislative session work is being done in anticipation of drafting a bill that may tackle both Act 250 and the designated area programs. Again, VBRA members are participating on these study committees, bringing the important perspective of the building trades to the table.​

State and Local Issues Fund –

The Vermont Builders and Remodelers Association is a chapter of the National Association of Home Builders. Home builder associations (HBAs) across the country face residential construction challenges that hamper the home building process and jeopardize housing affordability for all. To help HBAs overcome roadblocks, NAHB's State and Local Government Affairs Committee approves financial assistance for associations through the State and Local Issues Fund (SLIF).

VBRA submitted a grant application to NAHB with the subject of RBES as a challenge to housing affordability and an issue we would spend extensive time and resources working on. We defended our application in May and we’re happy to report that the association was granted $20,000 to assist in our advocacy effort.

Your VBRA membership includes not only access to valuable resources at the NAHB, but allows us to advocate for issues important to you in Vermont.  Please spread the word!

Sincerely,

The Vermont Builders and Remodelers Association

Severe Storm Recover Update                                    July 14, 2023   AGENCY OF COMMERCE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT View this email in your browser. Severe Storm Recovery Update July 14, 2023 Vermonters helping Vermonters in Montpelier as flood waters receded this week. Photo courtesy of Terry J Allen. Storm Response Update The State of Vermont will open Multi-Agency Resource Centers (MARCs) in Barre and Ludlow to help those affected by this week’s floods navigate the recovery process. These centers will be open from 9am-5pm daily Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, July 15-17. Additional sites will come online next week. MARC Locations: Ludlow - Community Center, 37 Main St, Ludlow Barre - BOR Arena/Barre Auditorium, 16 Auditorium Hill, Barre Storm Recovery Updates President Biden has approved Governor Phil Scott’s request for a major disaster declaration for Vermont to assist individuals and communities recover from historic flooding from July 7-12, 2023. The approval was given in under 24 hours. After the declaration was signed the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released a fact sheet for Vermont disaster loans for businesses,  that details what may be available and at what interest rates. While the fact sheet includes a lot of information, we know there will be many questions.  The SBA Disaster Team will be opening offices in Vermont to work with businesses through the application process. Businesses should engage with the SBA team PRIOR to submitting an application. It is imperative that applications are fully accurate prior submission, or they will be kicked back.  ACCD will share more on the location of these in person offices and how people can access them once it is determined next week. General information on how these loans work can be found on the SBA website. The Governor today also requested that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issue a disaster designation for the State of Vermont to open the availability of low-interest USDA Farm Service Agency emergency loans to farms and farmers. Resources for Restaurants The Vermont Department of Health (VDH) has issued guidance for restaurants on reopening after a flood.  VDH also released specific guidance related to reopening and operating under a boil water notice.  This guidance is part of VDH’s Food and Lodging Program. Volunteer Sign-up & Group Registration If you are looking to volunteer to support the clean-up and recovery, the state has set up a volunteer portal that allows you to register and be deployed to areas most in need.  If you are an organization with a group of volunteers looking to serve please email volunteer@vermont.gov  to register.  If you are in need of volunteers in your area please email volunteer@vermont.gov to ask for volunteers.  ACCD Flood Resource Center The ACCD resource page will be the central landing place for all information about flooding resources for businesses coming from the agency as we move further into recovery.

The end is nigh. Is the end nigh? That pretty much sums up the talk around the State House’s proverbial water cooler. Token Floor sessions on Saturday advanced the calendar, and in-person working floor sessions are happening today, Monday. The work schedule has ramped up to a “get it done” pace. Will the legislature be able to complete all its business by Friday or Saturday of this week?

There are some substantive bills left to resolve before adjournment - housing, childcare and the budget, chief among them. 

This morning, on a 20-10 vote, the Senate overrode the Governor's veto of S.5, the Affordable Heat Act which creates a performance standard and marketplace of credits for greenhouse reducing activities in the heating sector. The House is expected to follow suit. 

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RBES update- S.100, the housing bill, will hit the House floor this afternoon with a number of amendments.  In particular, Rep. Mark Higley, R-Lowell will offer an amendment that pushes back any required adoption of updated RBES to July 1, 2025.

VBRA members have been very involved in the 2023 RBES updates, making recommendations to the advisory committee and participating in the public hearing process. Concerns have focused on the lack of inspection and enforcement of the codes, which leads to a lack of compliance by some builders. As the codes increase in complexity that gap in compliance will only increase. 

Currently, the Department of Public Service has presented its final rule update recommendations to the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR). LCAR will meet on May 25th to consider the new rules. VBRA members are scheduled to testify and have been engaged in legislative outreach.

At the same time there is language in S.100 that, if passed, would create a study committee to recommend strategies for increasing compliance with RBES and Commercial Building Energy Standards (CBES). VBRA has been named as a participant on that committee.

Though a longshot for success, Rep. Higley's amendment is intended to delay adoption of the new rules until the study committee delivers its report (on or before Dec 31, 2023) and the administrative and structural flaws present in the code are addressed. 

Housing Bill - S.100 will be on the House floor this week. The House Committee on Environment and Energy passed out S.100 out with language that slightly raises the threshold of who may appeal a municipal permit decision. Currently, "any 10 who may be any combination of voters or real property owners within a municipality" may appeal. The bill adds, "an appeal shall not include the character of the area affected if the project has a residential component that includes affordable housing." 

You can find a side-by-side comparison of the bill as it passed the Senate with the House Committee on Environment and Energy version here.

After strong advocacy from the House Rural Caucus, The Environment and Energy committee also included language that the construction of four or fewer units in an existing structure (think large old colonial being converted) located entirely within a designated center would count as one unit toward the total number of units.

Furthermore, the bill increases the Act 250 threshold to 25 units within five miles and five years in designated downtowns, neighborhood development areas, growth centers and village centers with permanent zoning and subdivision bylaws, but only until July 1, 2026. In order to secure the exemption, by June 30, 2026, a person must request and receive an Act 250 jurisdictional opinion that construction will be substantially complete by June 30, 2029. The 10/5/5 rule remains in effect outside designated areas, in other words.. the rest of the state.  

One item of promise that did not move was a plan pushed by Chittenden County municipalities, spearheaded by Mayor Miro Weinberger, in which the legislature would delegate Act 250 criteria review to local governments that adopt bylaws addressing Act 250 criteria and demonstrate the capacity to administer Act 250 locally. This "municipal delegation" would eliminate duplicative and expensive permits that cost developers time and money as an alternative to the longstanding ask of removing designated areas from jurisdiction. Instead, the bill creates a report by December 31, 2023, from the Vermont Association of Planning and Development Agencies with a proposed framework for delegating the administration of Act 250 permits to municipalities.

Other - In addition to the issues that the legislature continues to work on, the House has shelved two bills that seemingly had momentum after being passed by the Senate: S.9 – the bill permitting the Auditor’s office to examine finances of companies and organizations that do business with the state, and S.42 – the bill that would require the Vermont Pension Investment Commission to create a plan to divest Vermont’s pension plans from the fossil fuel industry by 2031. 

What to expect in Week 19 – May 8–May 12, 2023 

Note: Legislative Committee Agendas are updated frequently throughout each day. The latest committee schedule can be found on this link. A list of weekly hearings for all committees can be found here. 

Clean Heat Standard - S.5, the Clean Heat Standard bill was approved by the House this past week. The bill sets up a marketplace for credits that would provide a system of carrots and sticks towards incentivizing greenhouse gas reducing activities in the thermal sector. Each fossil fuel dealer would be assigned a certain amount of credits they must seek through clean heat activities such as weatherizing homes and installing cold climate heat pumps. Dealers that do not meet the requirements would be penalized and the price of heating fuel would rise accordingly.

The Public Utility Commission will be responsible for designing the system of credits and demerits. The 2025 legislature will then act on the draft rule, containing all the design details of the program, by passing another bill that approves the design. The program would then go into place by June 2025.

Governor Scott vetoed a similar bill last year and the legislature failed to override the veto by a single vote. If a veto comes again, the legislature, with its Democratic super-majority, would likely have the votes for an override.

The Budget - The Senate Appropriations Committee also unanimously voted out their $8.5 billion budget on Friday. The bill, which will be on the Senate floor this week, leaves untouched many of the House’s proposals, but makes some changes including ending the motel voucher housing program, increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates to some service providers, removing the funding for universal school meals to be considered separately in H.165, providing an initial appropriation for after school grants, and allocating over $9 million to a youth inpatient psychiatric facility.

Housing Bill - The housing bill, S.100, saw a new party enter the fray last week – The Rural Caucus. In a letter to the Speaker of the House, Jill Krowinski, over 30 tri-partisan members of the House of Representatives supported regulatory changes, including expanded exemptions for Act 250, to address the housing crisis. As the bill currently stands in the House Committee on Environment and Energy, it focuses on the very small footprints of the states developed designated areas and does little to help rural areas. 

Two weeks ago, Democratic leadership sided with special interests in deciding that housing development regulation would not be discussed in the Housing Committee, leaving that task instead to the Environment and Energy Committee, a committee not known for being friendly to development. For now, the Rural Caucus is siding with campaign promises to constituents in addressing the states housing crisis and not with the diluted bill favored by leadership.

Childcare - S.56, the childcare bill, passed out of the House Committee on Human Services and will now need to make stops at multiple other committees before it can be passed by the House. Chief among those committees is House Ways and Means, which has rolled out their proposed funding package that includes an income tax increase (in lieu of payroll) and a corporate tax. 

The Senate had funded the bill with a 0.42% payroll tax, a reallocation of the funding for the Vermont child tax credit, and the roughly $50 million base funding the Governor found. The House, in response to testimony that funding should be  "broad-based" where businesses and individuals each pay their fair share, has instead proposed:

• An increase to the top tier of corporate tax from 9.25% to 10%, raising $19 million, and 
• An increase personal income tax by an additional 0.5% across all brackets, raising $114 million.
• The package also increases the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 38% to 59%, which would more than offset the effects of the tax increase on lower-income filers.

House leadership, by all evidence, is adamant that both childcare and paid family and medical leave (which has its own price tag of $120 million per year) are enacted this year, while the Senate is looking to only act on childcare.  If the bill passes out of the House, it would then be sent back to the Senate, where that chamber could start to address the major divide between the two chambers. 

What to expect in Week 17 – April 24 – April 28, 2023

Note: Legislative Committee Agendas are updated frequently throughout each day. The latest committee schedule can be found on this link. A list of weekly hearings for all committees can be found here.

The front door of the state house was opened wide at the end of last week, signaling the advent of warm weather and the quickly approaching end of the legislative session. With likely less than five weeks left in this first session of the biennium, legislators are attempting to finish work on proposals, or are tacking them back up on the wall until January of 2024.

In a week defined by process over policy, observers saw tensions rise over S.100, the housing bill, as members of the House Committee on General and Housing were informed they were being prevented from working on Act 250 sections that impact housing development. Those sections, they were told, would be handled by the House Committee on Environment and Energy. A tri-partisan effort to introduce an amendment restoring Act 250 reform measures (that were stripped out in the Senate) was crushed when the chair of the Housing Committee said he would not allow a vote on the amendment. 

Originating in the Senate Committee on Economic Development, S.100 made  significant changes to municipal zoning regulations designed to incentivize infill development in places already served by water and sewer. But it was Act 250 reforms in the bill that housing advocates had set their sights on to help solve the state’s housing crisis. By the time time the bill left the Senate, a change to raise the jurisdictional trigger from 10 to 25 units had been scrapped.

S.100 section summary

The bill passed out of the House General and Housing Committee without discussion of zoning or Act 250 sections. The Act 250 sections still currently in the bill increase the number of planned units that would trigger the need for a permit, but those provisions are temporary with a 3-year sunset, and are confined to the state’s designated areas – areas that, all told, equal .03 percent of the state’s lands.  

Housing advocates say it’s just not enough to meet housing goals, and fear that even these Act 250 sections could be stripped from the bill, leaving legislators in the unsuccessful position of making no meaningful headway on what has been identified as the most important issue to Vermonters - and by candidates during campaign season.

    Recent VTDigger article - Legislature’s housing bill advances, and hopes for   Act 250 reform wane further

The House Environment and Energy Committee approved S.5, also known as the Clean Heat Act or the Affordable Heat Act. This extremely ambitious bill seeks to create a market of credits that would incentivize greenhouse gas reducing activities such as weatherization and electrification of home heating, whilst penalizing the sale of fossil fuels. This market would be the first of its kind in the nation. The bill moves to the Appropriations Committee next.

Going up on the wall in the House Committee on Human Services is a bill that passed the Senate with momentum – S.18, a bill that would ban flavored tobacco products and e-liquids. The committee has assured supporters of the proposal that they will work on the bill next session, but has its plate full with their continued work on the child care bill and has aspirations to work on a safe-injection site proposal.

In the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, members have decided to use their deliberations on the Attorney General Office’s (AGO) proposed data privacy bill as a valuable educational exercise and will be working (when time permits) during the rest of the session and over the summer on a new comprehensive consumer data privacy proposal. Chair Mike Marcotte has stated that he’d like his committee to be ready with a new proposal, crafted with input from stakeholders and the AGO, that’s ready for introduction at the beginning of the next session.

Legislation that continues to be on the move for this session include H.127, the bill authorizing the Department of Liquor and Lottery to design and operate an online sports wagering system in the state. The Commissioner of DLL will be authorized to select a minimum of two but not more than six operators to operate a “sportsbook” through a competitive bidding process, with a  revenue share to the state not less than 20 percent of adjusted gross sports wagering revenue.

The House continues to debate S.56, the early childcare bill. How to fund this costly program remains undecided as the Ways and Means committee considers payroll taxes, sales taxes, taxes on services and taxes on software accessed remotely (cloud tax) or some combination of them. 

What to expect in Week 16 – April 17 – April 21, 2023

Note: Legislative Committee Agendas are updated frequently throughout each day. The latest committee schedule can be found on this link. A list of weekly hearings for all committees can be found here.

Week 15 of the 2023 Legislative Session

As we headed into week 15 of the legislative session, the House Ways and Means committee was continuing its work on determining alternative funding mechanisms for the Senate passed child care proposal. The Senate has proposed eliminating last year’s child tax credit to help fund their expansion of child care subsidies and the implementation of a new parental leave program. Without acknowledging this proposed elimination of the tax, but seemingly rejecting it, the House Ways and Means committee reviewed a proposal that would keep the tax credit in place and add advanced quarterly pre-payments of 50 percent of the tax.

As a substitute to the child tax credit repeal, Ways and Means Chair Emily Kornheiser asked her committee to “pivot” to looking at taxation on services. One possibility that the committee considered is an amendment to S.93 that would remove the current sales tax exemption for all types of software accessed on the cloud, aka a Cloud Tax: Software as a Service (Saas), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Patrick Titterton, Joint Fiscal Office, testified that removal of the exemption would raise an estimated $18.4 million for the Education Fund, about half of what the child tax credit repeal would raise.

The committee is spending time to further review child care financing options, including consumption taxes.

The House General and Housing Committee took up the S.100, the housing bill as it passed out of the Senate. The committee has been told by Democratic leadership that they are to focus on housing-specific programs and will not be reviewing any provisions related to municipal zoning and Act 250.  Any review of changes to state and municipal bylaws will be done in the House Energy and Environment Committee, a committee not known for being friendly to addressing Act 250 barriers. 

S.100, the HOME Act, as it passed the Senate can be found here, a section summary can be found here. 

The House Committee on General and Housing heard some initial testimony on and discussed H.132, a bill creating a “homeless bill of rights.” The bill adds “perceived housing status” to the list of immutable characteristics protected by law and sets forth that no law or ordinance should “penalize the individual engaging in harmless activities that are associated with homelessness.”  Concerns in the past have centered on that the legislation making it more difficult to handle poor behavior in Vermont’s downtown areas, especially when that behavior might be attributed to a “perceived” status. It's anticipated that this legislation will be added to the HOME Act.

 

Note: The Legislative Committee Agendas are updated frequently throughout each day. The latest committee schedule can be found on this link. A list of weekly hearings for all committees can be found here

Closing out Week 12 of the 2023 Legislative Session

Last week, the Senate Committee on Finance spent two afternoons working on S.56, the childcare bill, that was sent to them by the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. After months of anticipation, the committee finally proposed a funding mechanism for the expansion of the Child Care Financial Assistance Program and a new parental leave program. The committee amended the bill by:

• adding a 0.42% payroll tax,
• repealing the current child care tax credit and repurposing $32 million to the childcare subsidy, and 
• added $50 million from the Governor’s budget for early childcare.

The payroll tax would be split 75% on the employer and 25% on the employee, and would increase in the second year to an estimated 1%. FY24 cost estimates are $90 million for the program, growing to $190 million in FY25. The House is considering alternative taxes including a corporate tax and consumption taxes, leaving the bill’s funding sources still in flux.

The childcare bill also contains an amendment that establishes a new parental leave program, intended to be an alternative and compromise to the paid family and medical leave bill favored by the House. The program would offer 12 weeks of paid leave, up to $600 a week, for one parent. It would cost $2 million to implement and administer, and $5.6 million a year in benefits - far less expensive than the House bill. 

As mentioned above, the House passed its version of a paid family and medical leave bill, H.66, which has remained largely unchanged since it was first introduced with its 103 sponsors. The bill seeks to create the most generous paid family and medical leave program in the country, with an initial cost of $111.5 million to start - including 65 new employees - and ongoing annual costs of $94 million. A showdown is expected between this bill and the Senate's preferred parental leave program. 

The House Committee on Ways and Means took up H.10, a bill regarding the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive Program (VEGI). The bill extends a sunset on the program by two years, increases transparency in how grants are determined and awarded to businesses, and creates a study committee on what an effective business incentive program would look like. However, as the week went on, time constraints seemed to prevent the committee from getting to the bill, and it is likely to miss any extensions for crossover deadline.  

The Senate Economic Development and Natural Resources committees  spent the week going back and forth with amendments to the housing bill, S.100, also known as the HOME Act. By Thursday, they had arrived at a version that they felt was a suitable compromise to bring to the Senate floor.

However, advocates are frustrated with how Act 250 sections have been scaled back from the original bill to an almost inconsequential scale. The bill as introduced increased the jurisdictional trigger from 10 units to 25 for the entire state. The Senate Natural Resources Committee restricted that trigger to only in “designated areas,” which represent about 0.3% of the state.

There is an amendment that will be considered to meet halfway with an Act 250 exemption for towns that have permanent planning/zoning and subdivision bylaws.

A new Green Mountain State Poll, (a States of Opinion Project, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center) shows that Vermonters consider housing to be the state's most serious problem - by a wide margin. 

The news comes in a week in which there is contention around how best to create more housing while legislators discuss what could conservatively be estimated as more than $400 million in new taxes.

We need your help! Please reach out to your Senators and ask them to support housing in Vermont by moving the 10/5/5 trigger for Act 250 to 25/5/5 in more areas than the bill currently allows. You can find your Senators here.

Closing out Week 11 of the 2023 Legislative Session It’s the end of crossover week in Montpelier, meaning legislation needed to be voted out of committees by the end of today, or the legislation is done for the session. There are some ways around it; a committee can seek a waiver from the rules committee, legislators or a committee can add a piece of legislation that didn’t make crossover as an amendment to a piece of legislation that did make the deadline. Finally, money committees - Ways & Means, Appropriations, Finance - have another week before crossover deadline. Bills in those committees have until next Friday.  Crucial Housing Bill Gets Watered Down The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy proceeded with an amendment that watered down, S.100, also known as the HOME Act, removing essential components of the bill for broad support. The amendment downgrades the positive changes to the Act 250 "10/5/5 rule" that were made by the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs. The rule means that if a developer builds ten units of housing within five miles of each other within five years, they trigger Act 250. Senate Economic moved that threshold to 25 units. To counter this, the Senate Natural committee agreed to the 25 unit increase, but only within areas of enhanced designation which comprise only about 0.03% of the state’s land. This is a temporary provision that sunsets on July 1, 2026. The Senate Natural Resources Amendment also does the following;         Raised the required density in areas zoned for residential and served by sewer and water infrastructure from at least four units per acre to five units per acre.         The Senate Economic version would have removed the ability under the current law of any combination of 10 voters and property owners to appeal. The Senate Natural amendment restores that language, though restricts it to 10 individuals who have a “common injury to a particularized interest."          They also removed the cap on the number of priority housing units that are exempt if located in a downtown, growth center, or neighborhood development area. This also is a temporary provision that sunsets on July 1, 2026.         Senate Natural deleted the sections that would have eliminated duplicative local/ANR wastewater permit connection sections that they had previously passed. Here’s what was added in the Senate Natural amendment;         The Committee added the concept of Master Plan Districts in designated areas so that a town could pre-approve an Act 250 permit for a development area. Then, each new project in that area would be a permit amendment rather than a full permit.         They added an "enhanced village center designation." A town can receive the enhanced designation for a village center if they have permanent zoning and subdivision bylaws, municipal sewer and water infrastructure, and adequate staff. Priority housing projects located in Enhanced Village Centers require 50 or more units to trigger Act 250. This is a temporary provision that sunsets on July 1, 2026.      Energy Code. First it was out, but then back in - the amendment now includes a provision that says a town may adopt building energy code more restrictive than state RBES code, but only if it gets a charter change which requires legislative approval.  Housing advocates and VBRA recognize the Senate Economic Development committee version of S.100 as the bill that could truly result in a reduction in barriers to building affordable housing for Vermonters. Your help could be crucial in this effort. Click here to find your state Senators and Representatives and ask them to support the version of S100 "as it came out of the Senate Economic Development Committee." Childcare Bill Voted Out The Senate Committee on Health and Welfare concluded their work on S.56, the childcare bill. The fiscal picture and footprint of the bill are still unclear at this time, however, it is expected that the Committee will seek a payroll tax for about $100 million in spending under the bill for this year and then about $200 in the next fiscal year.  The bill provides full reimbursement for those making up to 185% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and then reimburses on a sliding scale up to 600% FPL or about $180,000 for a family of four. The bill also includes $7.3 million in grants distributed by the Department of Children and Families to retain childcare workers. As a potential alternative to the separate Paid Family Leave bill, Senator Jane Kitchel brought to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, as well as the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs, a proposal to include parental leave only in the childcare bill. The proposal would cost about $15 million and would provide 12 weeks of leave to one parent. The plan would fully replace wages up to 200% of federal poverty guidelines, with a decrease in benefits up to a cap of 600% FPL. Meanwhile.. Paid Family Leave Passes Out of the House Committee on Ways and Means The House Committee on Ways and Means passed H.66, advancing what will likely be the most generous paid family and medical leave program in the country. Estimates are that the program altogether would cost $117 million per year, a number higher than previous calculations. The bill proposes 90% wage replacement for 12 weeks for an expanded list of eligible recipients. It would be paid for by a .55% payroll tax split between employee and employer.  As noted above, the Senate has already made movements to preempt the bill by adding parental leave only to their priority, the childcare bill. A House/Senate battle is sure to ensue.  Labor Bills Advance Out of Committee The Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs passed S.102 and S.103 this week, bills that have numerous consequences if they proceed to final passage. S.102 had language that would have ended at-will employment in the state and created a "good cause standard for termination," and would have  created new severance pay requirements. That language has now been removed, and the bill now does the following; “Captive Audience” provision – prevents an employer from penalizing an employee who does not participate in discussion on issues perceived as political. The provision is aimed at preventing employers from discussing the impacts of unionization with employees, however, it can have far-reaching consequences as well. Card Check Provisions – means that only 51% of employers would need to indicate interest in unionizing to move forward without an official election. S.103. Initial language that would have barred noncompete agreements has been removed. The bill now contains the following: It redefines harassment as one event rather than what exists under case law now; one severe event OR a series of pervasive events. The bill changes that definition to say that harassment need not be "severe or pervasive." A single incident could trigger litigation. As the bill stands, language attempting to define a "petty slight" and "trivial inconvenience" is too vague and leaves employers further exposed to lawsuits.   The bill also prohibits "no-rehire" provisions in settlements of litigation between employee and employer. Testimony from from attorneys representing employees and employers that provisions designed to prevent the rehiring of an employee after the settlement of a lawsuit should not be banned as they serve an important purpose for each side.   We encourage you to reach out to your legislators and vocalize your concerns on these bills. Liquor Legislation  The House Committee on Government Operation and Military Affairs passed the miscellaneous alcohol bill, which does the following; Increases the annual limit on fourth-class licenses allowing the Board of Liquor and Lottery to grant up to a combined total of 20, instead of the current 10, to a manufacturer or rectifier.  Repeals the sunset on the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption or, as it’s commonly called, alcohol to-go. Replaces the term “cider” with “hard cider” in the Vermont statute when referring to alcoholic beverages.  The House Committee on Judiciary continued their discussion around dram shop legislation this week and passed legislation that seeks to assist in the high cost of liquor liability insurance. The legislation also requires all proprietors of businesses with a liquor license to acquire liquor liability insurance. The bill passed out of Committee unanimously and represented changes beneficial to Vermont businesses. It is estimated that this could lower VT’s ISO rating from it’s current 10 (the highest it can be) to something closer to a 6.