House Appropriations Committee approves amendment to S.122 advancing appropriations, baby‑bonds pilot and convention‑center study

The Vermont House Appropriations Committee on May 27, 2025, approved a committee amendment to S.122 and voted to report the bill favorably to the full House. The committee’s action, taken unanimously on the record, advances multiple provisions: clarified one‑time appropriations for small‑business supports, a seven‑member task force to study construction of a convention center and performance venue, statutory direction and a special fund for a baby‑bonds pilot, and establishment language for a Vermont–Ireland Trade Commission.

The amendment keeps language allocating $200,000 to the Vermont Professionals of Color Network and $150,000 to the Department of Economic Development for a grant to the Vermont Small Business Development Center; both amounts are described as already appropriated in the fiscal bill and are presented in S.122 as allocation/enabling language rather than new appropriations. The committee removed a $25,000 line item tied to the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund after staff said that amount was already restored in the enacted budget and was not intended as a separate appropriation.

The bill creates a…