Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Disaster Relief Loans topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee advances move of $2 million to VIDA to seed disaster loan fund for businesses
Summary
Committee testimony on H.398 described a $2 million transfer from the BGAP appropriation to create a low-interest revolving loan fund managed by VIDA to provide rapid, short-term loans to businesses after declared disasters; lawmakers debated who would declare disasters, loan terms and whether VIDA should serve as primary lender.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on April 16 took up H.398, a bill that would transfer a $2,000,000 remainder from the Business Grant Assistance Program (BGAP) to VIDA to establish a low-interest revolving loan fund to help businesses after disasters.
Representative Michael Markoff, chair of the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, told the panel the money is not new revenue but a carryover remainder from BGAP and that the intent is to create a faster source of capital to get funds to affected businesses when floods or other disasters occur.
Markoff said the bill does not itemize detailed underwriting terms. He told the committee VIDA should be able to recover administrative costs and that loans should be “as low interest as possible,” but that the statute would not let VIDA unilaterally define what constitutes a disaster. Under the bill, a governor-declared disaster, a presidential declaration, or consultation with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development would be among the triggers VIDA could rely on before making loans.
Legislative Counsel Cameron Wood described most changes in the bill as technical and said two provisions represented the more substantive policy shifts: creating the disaster loan fund and statutorily embedding the Vermont sustainable jobs strategy so future administrations cannot alter it administratively.
Committee discussion flagged two practical departures from prior practice: the proposal would allow VIDA to be the primary lender for this small program, a role the agency typically does not assume, and it leaves loan security and specific underwriting decisions to VIDA. A representative from the Joint Fiscal Office described the fiscal note as brief and reiterated that the $2,000,000 is a repurposing of prior appropriations rather than a new FY2026 request.
Committee members also asked whether agricultural producers and ag businesses would be explicitly eligible; witnesses said the language already covers ag businesses but that adding explicit text to reassure members would be acceptable.
After discussion the committee moved the bill forward. Recorded committee responses during the motion included several members answering in the affirmative; one member said they would “hold” the item. The committee did not adopt detailed loan underwriting language, leaving those operational decisions to VIDA and to consultations specified in the bill.
Why this matters: H.398 seeks to shorten the time between a disaster hitting and capital reaching businesses by putting a revolving fund in an entity that can act quickly, but it also changes how VIDA has operated by allowing it to be a primary lender in this narrow program. The scope of eligibility, security requirements and disaster triggers will affect how quickly and to whom the money flows.
The bill will move next through committee reporting and any subsequent floor consideration, with operational details left to statutory cross-references and VIDA policy.
