Rep. Stevens: Preliminary session wrap-up after adjournment No. 1

May 19, 2023 | By Rep. Tom Stevens 

The legislative session came to a close at 10:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12. Needless to say, the rush to the end was full of tension, last-minute negotiations, and promises of vetoes by the administration.

In other words, pretty normal for the Vermont General Assembly.

The last several sessions have seen us using federal coronavirus relief dollars, as well as other large appropriations from an infrastructure bill, to prop up our economy and to provide services we otherwise would not have been able to support, including spending nearly $400 million on investments to housing and another $400 million or so on supportive services to those most in need. 

This year, the surplus we had in tax revenue was due to the expenditure of these federal dollars and was returned to us in the form of increased sales and income taxes. These surpluses are enticing, because many of us feel that we have starved many essential services over the last few years, but we are wary of using what we consider “one-time expenditures” to create new programming. This wariness hasn’t stopped us from proposing pilots for new programs, but the bulk of the money has been appropriated into programs that have proven successful, including investing in housing.

Take, for instance, S.100. This omnibus bill (meaning a large bill composed of many smaller proposals relating to a certain subject) focussed on housing and zoning, and should, over time, make it easier to build housing that is affordable in all corners of the state by changing certain zoning regulations, as well as adjusting some Act 250 regulations, allowing more units to get built in certain designated areas. It also invests some of our surplus funds in continuing successful building programs such as the Vermont Housing Investment Program, which has subsidized the improvement of over 400 rental units to be made available to those exiting homelessness or who make less than 80% of the area median income, which for Chittenden County is approximately $60,000 and slightly less in Washington County. 

We were also able to send nearly $100 million to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to continue their investments in local, nonprofit housing, as well as helping communities with the purchase of more immediate housing. The money appropriated to VHCB will also continue investing in conservation efforts statewide.

We also passed and then overrode the veto of the governor on S.5, the Clean Heat Standard Bill. The vote is a crucial step toward cleaning up emissions from burning oil, propane, kerosene and natural gas. The bill requires energy regulators to start crafting a program mandating that the state’s fossil fuel dealers lower the greenhouse gas emissions from their products, either by reducing demand through insulation projects or switching customers to lower-carbon fuels. There was much disinformation spread about this bill, and it showed a real division in how we can move forward on our goal of reducing emissions. There will be rules and regulations created over the next two years — this issue is far too big for us to tackle successfully in one five-month session —  and nothing will go into effect until a future legislature approves of those changes.

We will have a veto session in June, at which time we can be much clearer in our wrap-up from the session. Many important bills are likely to be rejected by the governor, and the veto session will either force us to change them or to override the veto.

Thank you again for the privilege of representing you in the legislature. Please feel free to reach out with questions anytime.

Rep. Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury, represents the Washington-Chittenden district in the House covering Waterbury, Bolton, Huntington and Buel’s Gore. Stevens chairs the House General and Housing Committee. Reach him at tstevens@leg.state.vt.us.