House committee reviews redraft of S.127 housing infrastructure provisions

The Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development met April 29 to review a redraft of the housing infrastructure portion of S.127, focusing on changes to eligible improvements, application criteria, and tax‑increment mechanics.

The draft discussed by John Gray, Office of Legislative Council, removes an affordability‑based incentive track and adopts a single approach more aligned with the Senate’s version. Gray said, "You have now more of kind of standard approach, more akin to what came across from the Senate." He told the committee the revision broadens permissible projects to include rehabilitation and renovation, not just new construction, and refines the definition of infrastructure improvements to list roads, bridges and sidewalks as examples.

Committee members debated…