House General and Housing committee reviews strike‑all draft of S.127 and aims for quick referral to Ways and Means

The House General and Housing Committee met Friday, May 2, to review a strike‑all amendment to S.127 and to try to finalize language so the clerk could refer the measure to the House Ways and Means Committee this week.

Committee leadership said the goal was to “have a coherent bill to vote out today” so the measure could meet Ways and Means scheduling constraints. Committee members and legislative counsel then walked through the draft amendment section by section and discussed specific policy choices that remain unresolved.

Why it matters: The draft replaces the Senate text and bundles a range of housing provisions — from the Vermont Infrastructure Sustainability Fund and a rental revolving loan program to changes in landlord certificates, tenant application requirements, universal design work, and tax‑increment/TIF and CHIP financing language. Committee members emphasized the need to finish drafting quickly to meet downstream referral and hearing schedules.

Major discussion points

Eligibility and “tier” treatment for infrastructure financing: Committee members debated when a project should qualify immediately for the bill’s highest priority financing category (discussed in the draft as “tier 1”). The chair said the committee’s intent was that where financing would pay for sewer or water infrastructure and that financing would make a site eligible for tier 1, “then it should be in now.” Members sought clarity on who decides that eligibility. Options discussed…