My opponents in this race are lauding the $300 million of our hard-earned tax money they are spending on housing. In the past six years, the housing-first policy has spent an average of $160,000 per homeless Vermont resident, yet we still have the crisis today.
The recent discussion of “Vermont’s housing crisis” reminds us that this problem never goes away. That’s because the interests active in shaping housing policy continue to be far apart on almost any policy change that promises more affordable housing.
“It’s no secret that in every corner of the state, lack of housing is a major concern,” Scott said in a release. “This is impacting Vermonters already here and it’s a barrier to growing our workforce. We know there are people who are looking to work in Vermont, but they can’t find decent, affordable housing.”
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.