[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,86],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6077171,"mediaKeyId","2965463-257f6bd4e31396e366efe3e9d3cbca9c","parentId",2965463,"title","Lawmakers weigh residential building code adoption and universal‑design study","audioSeconds",253,"startMs",2597000,"endMs",2850000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2965463-257f6bd4e31396e366efe3e9d3cbca9c&start=2597&end=2850","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2965463-257f6bd4e31396e366efe3e9d3cbca9c/thumbnail_2597000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6077171/Vermont/Lawmakers-weigh-residential-building-code-adoption-and-universaldesign-study","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6077171-cff69c7d58977098995a97f00886cf2a/orig.mp4?Expires=1770722406&Signature=haJ8~T7iZ6aOSllWSt7GqwT93UrQASPXWGNCXaD09TRfVWb8loFH8uH3JLmd2GCEHFCnRFS-KXuwfphcdsOAwE2ukKuI0gZyi5k6IS3DxdmCj1EdYRIt4Vcu9b0ckRVF8fpdf11orvdhXi8imjv9XBEw1xQ~an9JdL4mselD2eUHucBLr7LFCnH8z5jNo6Tmrf7bsEJwq-2BTnFgHFLqL278Izea5Yf2WwLNRKCdBEemqMJ0nRhtC1IDutzhli~R485izhcdEc1JQ1o7ihp3Ghhyi3ecHwKjJz5ZHO29mbtejRYKostA7ZxqrEFyzvKooSAAWOFhkU1XksE66mV28A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-04-11T23:40:06.817Z","article","The committee discussed language in a House bill that would create a study of \"universal design\" standards for residential buildings and whether that work should be folded into an existing building-energy and residential-code working group chaired by Representative Scott Campbell.

Campbell told senators the working group has examined statewide energy standards and the mechanics of compliance for two years. He warned Vermont lacks an administrative infrastructure to enforce residential building standards: \"We have no infrastructure for administering ... nothing to enforce any part of our building codes and penalize people who don't follow those codes,\" Campbell said, summarizing the group’s experience with voluntary compliance and uneven inspection and oversight.

Committee members discussed potential overlap between the proposed universal-design study and the existing building-energy/residential-code work. Several senators urged that universal-design (accessibility and adaptability features) be incorporated into statewide residential-code discussions rather than generating a separate task force. Campbell and other members said adding stakeholders who specialize in disability access (Centers for Independent Living and other advocates) would be needed if universal-design work is added to the existing group’s charge.

Campbell described compliance challenges: mandatory energy standards exist but enforcement has been limited and past surveys showed residential compliance rates around 50% to 54% in prior years; commercial compliance is higher because licensed professionals are involved. He said the working group has been exploring registration and voluntary certification pathways with the Office of Professional Regulation to improve compliance without imposing a full licensing regime.

Senators and staff agreed on a preferred approach: use the existing statewide building‑code and energy-code working group, add a few accessibility experts and municipal or disability‑advocacy members, and task the group to craft recommendations for how universal-design elements could be incorporated into any future residential building code or standards. Representative Campbell said he would propose edits to the group's charge and report back to the Senate committee.

No formal votes were taken; the chair thanked Campbell for his leadership and asked staff to coordinate possible membership additions and next steps.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Economic Development - 2025-04-11-9:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Senators discussed whether to add universal-design work to an existing statewide building-energy and code working group rather than create a separate task force; Representative Scott Campbell briefed the committee on compliance challenges and enforcement gaps for residential building standards.","taxTitle","Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",37662,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":44,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6077175,"Senate advances changes to landlord-certificate data collection; tax department, VHFA and VCGI outline dashboard plans",649,1948000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2965463-257f6bd4e31396e366efe3e9d3cbca9c&start=1948&end=2597","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2965463-257f6bd4e31396e366efe3e9d3cbca9c/thumbnail_1948000.jpg","/articles/6077175/Vermont/Senate-advances-changes-to-landlord-certificate-data-collection-tax-department-VHFA-and-VCGI-outline-dashboard-plans","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6077175-1bb22c58ff5de3ed2c85f274c4861447/orig.mp4?Expires=1770722406&Signature=H4N7ygwFAt98-OLpsY2dXihF35S5C75VzekpoXzZE4b38O4LaI9Qh4n2u9hqMRhe3tDaL2evNPlQl~FTC~S8gzV3shVO6~P~W1gFiFxdoGXa9c94u6A0uxKFWkOKZshkZmIggcgrwbIOuEm1R~LwnSwCVg7A6~pytYmrS9jg9jyg2h-pC-RTtguJE~IBVjvPDAnUQqHj-4X08u9-A6cJ1mqg1M~75X9r8UmMKFAMs-voQ~256qoCeZ1SKWQl3fX8AIC8Q6wTk73LyUHDdv0gw0ez9lBhN2P3Ty~3MfofWAqKFRBdvDeAj~REEfbBKPg1WrQE28KqXea04v-6Z9JlXA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee reviewed proposed changes to the state’s landlord-certificate data collection and discussed a related plan to extract assessor (CAMA) data for a statewide housing dashboard.

Jake Feldman of the Tax Department said the landlord-certificate exists primarily to verify renter rebate claims and that the department’s priority is preserving high compliance so low-income renters receive credits promptly. \"The purpose of the landlord certificate is to collect the data needed for back end verification of renter credit claims,\" Feldman told the committee.

The House-passed language under review would remove some previously proposed fields (for example, gross monthly rent per unit and the year the unit was built) and replace municipal parcel identifiers with the school property account number (SPAN). Legislative council counsel Cameron Wood told senators the bill would also change the public-release requirement: the earlier requirement to publish a full spreadsheet on request was removed, with the tax department instead required to submit an aggregate report to the legislature.

Tax and housing officials said those edits reflect a tradeoff: adding more unit-level survey fields would risk reducing landlord participation and therefore jeopardize renters’ access to the rebate. Department staff reported a large improvement in processing speed after prior reforms: where 25% of renter-credit claims were issued within 60 days under the old system, 96% were issued within 60 days after the reforms.

Department of Taxes officials and Vermont Housing Finance Agency staff said they support the revised language because it aims to preserve high compliance while collecting useful property-level information. VHFA Executive Director Mora Collins told the committee VHFA has about 15,000 subsidized units in its datasets and emphasized that a complete statewide picture would require more outreach to non‑subsidized landlords.

Cameron Wood and Tax Department staff also explained a separate but related data-channel change: municipalities will provide an extract of their CAMA (computer-assisted mass appraisal) databases to the Tax Department. Jill Remick, director of Property Valuation and Review at the Tax Department, said those CAMA fields already exist in many municipal systems and are public information. \"This is information that lives in their system. It's public information,\" Remick said, arguing that pulling these fields from CAMA is the lowest‑friction way to add building-level data (year built, number of units, number of stories) to state datasets.

DHCD and VCGI staff described a housing dashboard — a new tool the department built with VCGI — that will track building activity, targets for 2030 and 2050, and regional progress. DHCD Deputy Commissioner Nick Formalari said, \"we created this new tool from scratch,\" and VCGI explained the dashboard currently uses E‑911 hookups as a starting indicator of new units and will be expanded as towns and vendors add fields such as unit counts and year built.

Officials emphasized that the changes are intended to protect the renter-rebate program’s integrity while improving the state’s long-term data about where housing exists and is coming online. The committee did not take any formal votes; members directed legislative staff and departmental partners to continue technical work on extract formats and to coordinate outreach to municipal assessors and vendor partners.","Senators reviewed proposed changes to the landlord-certificate form and a parallel plan to extract assessor/CAMA data for a statewide housing dashboard; tax officials said the changes preserve renter rebate administration while improving data channels for housing analysis.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":89,"_43":90,"_45":91,"_47":92,"_49":93,"_51":94,"_53":95,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":96,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":97,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6077179,"Senate committee urges action on landlord-tenant recommendations after task force report",2414,91000,2505000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2965463-257f6bd4e31396e366efe3e9d3cbca9c&start=91&end=2505","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2965463-257f6bd4e31396e366efe3e9d3cbca9c/thumbnail_91000.jpg","/articles/6077179/Vermont/Senate-committee-urges-action-on-landlord-tenant-recommendations-after-task-force-report","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6077179-a3b0f767b3a345e0de653493ab4149c3/orig.mp4?Expires=1770722406&Signature=ksO3hnOeIHnucwrSXjbet0WZcFcZLI9tseMjbrB1dkZB~f2VlpPZJSrpSYwQ4mSPwucMFDP1cPV-E-0io6tRo3IXYQTlrzOeTuKXqjpwdO~NcOIbzrJ6fAUQ7S7v2b7lRx8OThClvTkFc8HkiO70qaOZzFpix9U5HefitVZ2PyjFqhR2FabO4YEM9P-HjX~5GzP7WrH7OlRffMmVerZAxy3pzFoUNjq5eReRcmMTvVfqeptPRu3fmqba~1dNT6GXYa~qqFioDbBIO4VSWBGp5Wd~okYBCLC2B1AMwXR-Eqqet9n3xK5K0hC9a7Q-m53A6jC6ajy~jW19pddJCT8qjA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee heard a presentation from Emily Krasner, chair of the landlord-tenant study committee, and agreed to pursue an informal, action-oriented working group to convert the study’s recommendations into draft legislation for consideration next year.

Krasner told the committee the study committee — made up of legislators, tenants, landlords, judiciary representatives and Department of Housing officials — met six times, took testimony from stakeholders across the state and recorded public comment. \"We can't keep kicking the can on this issue,\" Krasner said, urging the Senate committee to turn the report’s recommendations into actionable bills.

Members said they view the landlord-tenant work as tied to broader housing availability and affordability efforts. Krasner said the study did not adopt a single legislative position but provided ranked recommendations and public testimony so lawmakers would have a record and options when drafting bills. She said the committee began late in the session (work began in October) and that several bills in the House and Senate have already used the report as a drafting source.

Legislative council attorney Cameron Wood reminded senators the study’s statutory charge did not require specific draft legislative language; the report instead was to assess whether landlord-tenant laws need modernization. Wood outlined options for next steps: continue the existing study committee, form a new committee, task an executive agency to draft language, or form an informal work group. Several senators said they preferred an informal \"cafeteria\" negotiation process — a series of facilitated, stakeholder-driven meetings — to hammer out compromise language outside of formal committee hearings.

Senators pressed on several substantive fronts raised in the study: balancing tenant protections with landlords’ property rights; tailoring eviction rules to address nonpayment versus behavioral and safety concerns; and ensuring any reform is equitable for both parties. Committee members also raised immigration-related concerns that intersect with housing — including a federal policy discussion about access to Social Security numbers for some migrants — and said they would coordinate with other committees as needed for identity-verification or finance-related proposals.

The committee asked Krasner to share a tightened witness list and the study committee’s report materials (public comment summaries appear early in the report; recommendations appear later). Senators said they will consider forming an informal working group before the next session with participating members from both chambers and legislative staff support to produce draft bills for January.

The committee did not take formal votes on draft language during the hearing and did not authorize new statutory targets at this meeting. Members described the next step as an internal, action-focused negotiation process to produce legislative draft(s) for early consideration.

The committee scheduled follow-up conversations with legislative staff and stakeholders and asked Krasner and other members to help convene the proposed informal working group.

The session closed with senators thanking Krasner for chairing the study committee and urging colleagues to review the report and consider summer work on concrete draft language.","Senators heard a refresher on the landlord-tenant study committee’s report and agreed to pursue an action-oriented, informal working group to convert recommendations into legislative language for the next session.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Lawmakers weigh residential building code adoption and universal‑design study

Senate advances changes to landlord-certificate data collection; tax department, VHFA and VCGI outline dashboard plans

Senate committee urges action on landlord-tenant recommendations after task force report