Committee clarifies language for commerce section: building community grants and historic‑preserve phrasing

After completing the corrections section, the committee moved to Section 4 (commerce and community development) and reviewed language and line items for grants and historic preserves.

Members asked that the bill text match the spreadsheet and that program titles be precise. Committee members recommended using the specific title "Building Community Grants" (rather than a generic "grant programs") in the section heading so the intent and administration are clear.

The committee discussed a split in funding for building community grants. The draft splits appropriations into separate buckets for education and human services (each at higher levels than other categories) to get a barometer of demand. Committee members said the split was intended to track whether applications were coming more from education or human services; staff said they could shift dollars between the two program lines if one category has lower demand. One staff member said they would review historical data and report back.

Members also asked that the spreadsheet wording be consistent with prior language for the preserves line item. The spreadsheet had shown "underwater preserves" in one cell but the committee remembered the title used in previous years as "Vermont Underwater Historic Preserves" and asked that phrasing be placed into the bill text for consistency and clarity.

Ending: Committee staff will reconcile titles and spreadsheet entries, review the grant‑application demand data to determine whether to keep the split between education and human‑services grant lines, and return with updated language in the next draft.