2023 End of Session Report
The 2023 legislative session is adjourned! We’ve passed significant legislation this past session that advances critical policies in the areas of housing, child care, workforce development, and climate action. This report highlights much of the work completed by the legislature, however, many bills are still waiting to be signed into law by the Governor. It’s an honor to serve as your State Representative. Please do not hesitate to reach out anytime with ideas, questions, or concerns.
A Balanced Budget
H.494 is a balanced $8.4 billion budget that funds our state government for the 2024 fiscal year. This budget invests in top constituent priorities, including housing, childcare, workforce development, climate and conservation, and vital human services that help Vermonters across the state.
Key investments include:
Housing ($211 million)
The budget includes $109 million to expand affordable housing and $102 million for emergency shelter and support services for unhoused Vermonters, recovery housing, transitional housing for Vermonters exiting prison, and housing for young people exiting the foster care system.
Childcare ($76 million)
This investment — the first in a multi-year system transformation — will make childcare more affordable for families, raise rates to provide financial stability for childcare providers, and boost pay for our valued early childhood workforce.
Workforce and Higher Education ($74 million)
The budget contains a $47 million package to attract and retain workers in fields with severe shortages, including nursing, dental hygiene, teachers, psychiatric care, and the skilled trades. It also funds UVM and Vermont State University, scholarship programs like 802 Opportunity, and adult education. Additionally, these funds go towards supporting small farms, organic dairy producers, small businesses, and working lands enterprises.
Human Services, Prevention, and Recovery
To relieve pressure on hospital emergency rooms, this budget funds a statewide expansion of mobile crisis units and invests in recovery centers and recovery housing. Investments are also made in after-school youth mentoring and substance misuse prevention programs.
Environment and Climate
The FY24 budget contains significant climate and environmental investments. It invests $9.8 million as a state match for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds. $8 million is allocated for assessments, planning, and cleanup of contaminated “brownfield” sites. $6.1 million will be used to address septic, water, and energy needs of older VT housing stock. The budget also provides the Agency of Natural Resources funding to be used as incentives to replace high global warming potential refrigerants and funding to support groundwater remediation due to PFAS contamination (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
Miscellaneous
Critical investments in E-911 and emergency dispatch, as well as updating our state IT networks and infrastructure. This budget also addresses staffing shortages in our judiciary system to help with court backlogs and funds the important social equity work of Vermont’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Land Access and Opportunity Board.
Housing for All in the Right Places
The comprehensive housing bill, known as the HOME bill or S.100, lays the groundwork for more affordable housing stock for Vermont’s working families. It updates our land-use policies to encourage housing development in vibrant, livable, and walkable downtowns — while discouraging sprawl.
These land-use updates include zoning changes to enable more housing density, like allowing duplexes wherever single-family homes are allowed and at least five housing units per acre in areas served by water and sewer. Time-limited changes were also made to Act 250 that allow for thoughtful growth in designated downtowns, village centers, and neighborhood development areas by changing the so-called “10-5-5 rule” (in which building or developing 10+ units within 5 miles in a 5-year period triggers Act 250 review) to a “25-5-5 threshold” (25 units, within 5 miles, in a 5-year period).
Key investments include:
$49 million to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to increase the supply of affordable housing.
$10 million to the Vermont Housing Improvement Program (VHIP) to rehab apartments that are offline or in violation of building codes, or to build or renovate accessory dwelling units.
$60 million for emergency shelters, temporary housing, and supportive housing services.
$7 million to fund recovery housing and housing for youth exiting foster care or Vermonters leaving prison.
$1.2 million to the Vermont Land Access and Opportunity Board, created last year to create opportunities and improve access to woodlands, farmland, and land and home ownership for Vermonters from historically marginalized or disadvantaged communities.
$30.4 million to stabilize and expand capacity in long-term care facilities.
$4 million for manufactured housing repairs.
Child Care and Early Childhood Education
The lack of access to affordable, high-quality early childhood care profoundly impacts Vermont and its economy. H.217 develops a blueprint for a significant investment in our children, families, and communities.
The bill increases state-funded financial assistance for children in child care, increases the reimbursement rates for community and home-based child care programs by 35%, and elevates and streamlines state-level oversight of early childhood education. This bill also provides a substantial increase to family home care providers, a critical component to solving the child care crisis.
H.217 builds on the current system to ensure that all partners, families, schools, and early educators have the resources they need to best care for our youngest Vermonters. The bill increases the number of families who will not have any co-pay from 150% of the federal poverty limit to 175%. It also expands eligibility for middle-income Vermonters to 575% of the federal poverty limit. H.217 will infuse over $140 million into the child care sector and, starting next year, will be funded by a payroll tax of 0.44% (employers pay 0.33% and employees pay 0.11%).
Strengthening and Supporting Vermont’s Workforce
This year the legislature took more steps to strengthen Vermont’s workforce, especially in critical sectors. The FY24 budget provides $40 million to educate, train, and help businesses hire and retain workers. It funds forgivable loan programs, scholarships, and certificate programs. We made broad financial commitments to our teacher workforce, adult education and training, climate workforce, graduates of Vermont colleges and universities, the trades, up-skilling certifications, criminal justice, technology, critical occupations, mental health practitioners, EMT, nursing, human services, the arts, and rural economic development.
Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection: 30 by 30
H.126, the “30x30” bill, charts an inclusive path to achieve the permanent conservation of 30% of Vermont’s landscape by 2030 and 50% by 2050. It also funds an updated inventory of the approximately 26% of lands currently conserved, including working lands and old forests. To chart a path for accomplishing these goals, the Agency of Natural Resources will direct a planning process that includes broad input from regional and local entities as well as an updated inventory of conserved land.
Universal School Meals
During the pandemic, the federal government provided free school meals to all K-12 students. Last session, the legislature provided funding to continue offering universal school meals in Vermont for the 2022–2023 school year. H.165 makes this popular program permanent so all kids can be fed at school regardless of circumstance. The program will also increase purchases of local foods and draw down more federal funding to support school meals.
Affordable Heat
Vermonters who can afford to are already moving away from the unpredictable and increasing cost of heating with fossil fuels. We must ensure that all Vermonters can access cleaner, more affordable heat. S.5, the Affordable Heat Act, directs the Public Utilities Commission to spend the next two years researching and designing a Clean Heat Standard to present to the legislature for review in 2025. This public process will include reports that analyze the cost of the program (including any impact on fuel prices), the estimated savings for Vermonters and much more. In 2025, this information will be presented to the legislature in the form of a new bill — for testimony, any necessary revision, and votes in both the House and Senate. If passed by legislature and Governor in 2025, the Clean Heat Standard would begin its gradual rollout in 2026.
Rural Capacity
Small towns often struggle to access funding and advance important projects due to a lack of administrative capacity. H.145, the Budget Adjustment includes $3 million for a new Rural Infrastructure Assistance Program to help small towns identify priority projects, apply for funding, and then have the capacity to manage those projects. The capacity funding is specifically designed to help underserved communities access and allocate federal ARPA funding for projects.
Prevention & Recovery
As the opioid epidemic deepens, nearly every Vermonter is connected to someone who died of an overdose. H.222 focuses on harm reduction and increasing access to life-saving treatment and services like Narcan, outreach workers, drug testing sites and supplies.
Reproductive Rights
Vermont now leads the nation in progressive health care policy. H.89 establishes the highest possible level of legal protection for Vermont-based providers of reproductive and gender-affirming health care and the patients receiving that care. S.37 guarantees that our health care providers will not lose their licenses and certifications due to injurious laws in other states. It also requires pregnancy service centers to comply with Vermont’s laws and standards of practice, ensures the supply of medications used in reproductive care, and increases access to contraceptives on Vermont’s college campuses.
Bottle Bill
Vermont’s existing beverage container redemption program hasn’t been updated since it passed over 50 years ago. H.158 expands the redeemable list to include plastic water bottles, sports drinks, and wine and hard cider bottles and cans. It also creates a producer responsibility organization to create additional, conveniently located redemption centers across the state.
Right to Repair
More and more companies are putting up barriers—legal, physical, digital—that prevent consumers from fixing the products they own. For Vermont’s loggers and farmers, this means waiting days or even weeks for an authorized tech. H.81, the right to repair bill, requires original equipment manufacturers of agricultural and forestry equipment to make available—on fair and reasonable terms—the parts, tools, manuals, and diagnostic materials needed to fix their products. This bill passed the house and will be taken up by the Senate next year.
Sheriff Office Reform
The legislature spent significant time this session addressing problems that have recently occurred in sheriff’s departments across the state. While most sheriffs and their departments are effective and manage their finances appropriately, we need clearer laws that hold sheriffs accountable while providing more guidance and structure. S.17 requires a transition plan when a new sheriff is elected to ensure that their successor has the money and resources needed for a smooth transition, creates a model policy for sheriff departments’ compensation and benefits, and prohibits survivors of abuse from being charged for standby services by law enforcement agencies.
Impeachment Investigation
For the first time since 1976, the House has initiated an investigation into possible impeachment of two elected officials, both from Franklin County: the sheriff and the state’s attorney. Alleged misconduct by both of these elected officials and their subsequent refusal to resign led to this action. The investigation is the first step in a multi-step process to remove a sheriff or state’s attorney from office. In particular, since a sheriff’s position is created and protected by the Vermont Constitution, impeachment is a long and meticulous process.
