Senate committee reviews H.397 amendment on emergency management, voluntary buyouts, municipal borrowing and community radio grants

The Senate Committee on Government Operations on March 14 reviewed draft 2.1 of the committee's amendment to H.397, a bill of miscellaneous amendments touching emergency management, flood response, municipal finance and a community radio grant program, with committee counsel Tucker leading the staff briefing and saying a revised draft (2.2) would be posted later for legal tweaks.

The committee examined provisions that would: require the Division of Emergency Management to present annually to the committee on action items in the All-Hazards Mitigation Plan; establish a voluntary buyout and buyout reimbursement program that requires acquired properties to be maintained as open space; direct a $1,000,000 transfer from a pilot special fund to the buyout reimbursement program in fiscal year 2026; create a Vermont Community Radio grant program with one-time grants administered by the Commissioner of Public Safety; and add municipal finance authorities for unassigned fund balances, limited emergency borrowing, and level debt-service options.

The measures matter because they change reporting lines for state emergency planning, create a new state-funded reimbursement mechanism for municipalities acquiring flood-prone land, and change local borrowing and budgeting tools that towns said they need to respond more quickly to repeated floods. Committee counsel said the annual reporting requirement responds to an auditor recommendation and that some technical language will be adjusted in a later draft to avoid legal issues such as the common-law rule against perpetuities.

Key provisions and committee discussion

Division of Emergency Management reporting: The amendment adds a new subdivision to what counsel identified as 20 VSA section 3A requiring the Division of…