Vermont House Commerce committee bars state disaster‑grant recipients from disaster recovery loan fund

The Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development voted April 29 to accept an amendment to H.398 that bars businesses that have received state disaster financial assistance for the same disaster event from receiving loans from the state’s disaster recovery loan fund.

Committee chair said the committee wanted to preserve the fund’s limited dollars for as many businesses as possible. “We want $2,000,000. Sounds like a lot of money, but when you start spreading it out in a disaster, it can go really quick,” the chair said.

The amendment, drafted by legislative counsel, adds a new subsection to the bill’s disaster‑recovery section. For the record, Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Counsel told the committee: “The most important thing that you all do today is this 9 line amendment.” He summarized the change: “a business shall not be eligible for financial assistance from the disaster recovery loan fund established by the subchapter if the business has received disaster recovery financial assistance from the state for the same disaster event.”

Wood said the drafting was intended not to block federal disaster aid or private insurance payouts, only state financial assistance for the same event. He also noted the Senate proposal of amendment to S.60 had expanded consultation language and made clear that the commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation would be included in consultation and eligibility language; the H.398 amendment is intended to prevent overlapping state assistance streams.

After brief discussion, the committee chair called for a voice/hand poll. The chair said the committee recorded 11 in favor of accepting the amendment and to report it favorably.

The committee indicated the amendment would be reported out that morning and could go to the floor with other items; committee staff and members mentioned an additional Senate amendment (206) that would be addressed later. John Gray was scheduled to appear at 9:30 to present a separate iteration of related legislation.

The amendment’s immediate effect, as described in committee, is to remove eligibility for the state disaster loan fund when a business has already received state disaster financial assistance for the same event; the committee did not provide further implementation details, such as appeal processes or how state receipt would be verified. Those procedural questions and floor action were not specified in the committee’s remarks.