Senate Finance considers H.398 changes to Vermont Economic Development Authority, including disaster‑recovery loan fund

Senate Finance received a detailed walkthrough of H.398, the House‑passed bill that amends the statutes governing the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VIDA, also written in testimony as VITA). The bill primarily makes technical drafting updates but includes policy changes: statute‑level direction for project eligibility tied to a Vermont Sustainable Jobs Strategy, authority to create and govern nonprofits with narrower board‑composition rules, expanded types of security for authority loans, extended repayment terms for loans to local development corporations, allowance for electronic signatures on bonds, and a new VIDA disaster‑recovery loan fund.

Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Counsel presented the bill text and said most changes are technical cross‑references and drafting cleanups resulting from earlier subchapter repeals. VIDA requested several substantive clarifications: removing the governor’s required approval of the authority executive director’s compensation from the statute (VIDA testified the governor currently does not approve that salary in practice), allowing loan officers to act under authority policies without…