Gov. Phil Scott gathered with members of the Legislature and local housing partners at the Salisbury Square, a planned affordable housing neighborhood, in Randolph today to sign two historic housing bills.
The legislative session was generally helpful to independent school interests. A bill to provide free school meals to publicly-funded students in the coming school year has passed, along with funding in support of a program adopted last year to test all Vermont schools for PCB contamination.
The governor on Tuesday had the mayor of Vermont’s largest city and another housing policy expert on hand at his weekly press conference to tell Vermonters now is not the time for red tape when it comes to reforming the state’s land use law, Act 250.
Therein lies the problem. We meet, we talk, we pass legislation, and in the end, we still don’t have the housing so desperately sought not only in southwestern Vermont but throughout the state.
S.210, an act relating to rental housing health and safety and affordable housing, passed in the State House of Representatives on April 22, 2022, by a vote of 88-54.
The S.210 rental housing bill would require an upfront state commitment of $20.4 million in ARPA funding to get up and running and subsequently would receive funding through the new revenue stream linked to the annual registry fee. ARPA funding also comes into play for S.226.
Right now, the supply of affordable homes is practically non-existent. In December, the median home price in Vermont was more than $369,000. Last month, there were only 136 homes for sale that a middle-income family can afford.
In its Feb. 6 legislative update, Campaign for Vermont offers an in-depth look at what lawmakers and the governor are doing for fiscal responsibility, workforce and economic development, housing, good government and education.
Even though we have a tsunami of federal dollars available, we won’t solve Vermont’s two housing problems by building subsidized housing. We don’t want to build used cars. We do want to allow the building of market-rate residences in order to make housing available up and down the income spectrum.
A new program designed to keep Vermont homeowners in their homes is now open, Gov. Phil Scott said.
In a news release last week, the governor announced that $3.5 million in Community Development Block Grants will be dispersed for affordable home repair, financing, mixed-income housing, and community facility improvements.
Existing and under-utilized housing structures around the state will be getting a facelift through the Vermont Housing Improvement Program, Gov. Phil Scott said.