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Vermont emergency management proposes ‘whole community’ language, opposes new buyout fund in H.397
Summary
Eric Forreng, director of Vermont Emergency Management (VEM), told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on April 23 that H.397 should use “whole community” language, avoid creating a duplicative buyout fund and fold new duties into existing Title 20 duties language.
Montpelier — Eric Forreng, director of Vermont Emergency Management (VEM), told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on April 23 that he supports several language changes in H.397 but recommended removing a proposed new buyout program and consolidating duties into existing statutory language.
Forreng said the bill should replace many of its specific entity references with the FEMA-derived phrase “whole community,” and that a separate buyout fund for voluntary property acquisition is duplicative because an existing buyout mechanism in statute already covers buyouts and broader floodplain work. “Creating a program without a funding source is also a bit unnecessary,” Forreng said, adding, “creating another one ... doesn't make sense to us.”
The change to “whole community” is intended to expand the statute’s reach beyond named officials and…
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