House committee advances draft changes to Vermont Economic Development Authority statute, including codified job strategy and new disaster fund

The Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on March 12 reviewed a strike-all amendment to H.398, the bill that updates the Vermont Economic Development Authority's chapter in Title 10, including codifying the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Strategy into statute and adding a new disaster loan fund funded at $2 million from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Counsel walked the committee through draft 1.1 of the committee's strike-all amendment, saying most edits are “technical in nature” but noting several substantive changes, including removal of a housing reference from the definition of eligible facility, changes to officer-appointment language, modernization of signature requirements, and the insertion of the Sustainable Jobs Strategy text into statute. Wood said the draft also creates a disaster fund and includes a $2,000,000 FY2025 appropriation from the agency of commerce.

Members and witnesses focused on three main topics: (1) how the Sustainable Jobs Strategy will function if placed in statute; (2) the new disaster recovery loan fund and when VEDA may disburse aid; and (3) limited technical and governance edits.

Why it matters: the Sustainable Jobs Strategy has guided occasional VEDA (the authority) actions for about 26 years, most often for downtown investment real-estate projects that do not fit other VEDA programs. Codifying the strategy would lock its criteria into statute rather than leaving it to a gubernatorial-created document, and the new disaster fund would create a standing state resource for businesses and agricultural enterprises after disasters.

Key changes discussed

• Codifying the Sustainable Jobs Strategy: The draft inserts the objectives from the existing Vermont Sustainable Jobs Strategy directly into section 280b of the authority’s statute. The committee reviewed the list of objectives — including creating and sustaining employment, promoting businesses that sell goods and services with substantial Vermont content, encouraging downtown commercial activity and historic building reuse, supporting economically disadvantaged areas, and promoting infrastructure that substitutes for out‑of‑state services — and discussed adding explicit climate-related language. Cassie Palimas of the Vermont Economic Development Authority told the committee the strategy has been used “very, very prudently” and that most uses have been for downtown revitalization projects that bring impactful tenants to a community.

• Authority discretion and administrative safeguards: Committee members asked who decides whether a proposed project “materially supports” one of the listed objectives. Wood said he intends to add a subsection making clear that the determination lies with the authority and that the authority may adopt policies and procedures to define terms and set standards. Palimas said VEDA’s internal loan policy typically expects projects to meet multiple objectives, even though the statute as drafted would allow funding if a project “materially supports one” objective.

• Disaster recovery loan fund and consultation: The amendment creates a new disaster recovery loan fund, authorizes loans and other financial assistance to businesses and agricultural enterprises after disasters, and includes a $2,000,000 FY2025 appropriation from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development for the fund. The draft requires the authority to consult with the secretary of commerce and community development and the secretary of agriculture before making funds available after a disaster event. Committee members and witnesses discussed adding an explicit exception so consultation is not required when a disaster is declared by the governor or by federal authorities; the committee directed staff to add language to that effect and considered broader language to cover public‑health or other declared emergencies that cause economic disruption. Secretary Lindsay Curley suggested phrasing to cover “natural disaster, public health emergencies, and other state or federally declared emergencies that result in economic disruption.”

• Governance, administrative and drafting cleanups: Wood noted housekeeping edits: making officer titles clear (the chair must be an appointed member while other officers may include ex officio members), replacing “regulations” with “rules/procedures,” changing “digital” signatures to “electronic,” and broadening references from “mortgage loans” to “secured loans” or “loans” where appropriate. Palimas confirmed the chair being an appointed member is intended to provide continuity.

• Treasurer’s office concern: Representatives of the State Treasurer’s Office asked the committee not to remove a provision that preserves interest payments to the treasurer in transactions involving local development corporations, citing possible interplay with the local investment statute; they recommended keeping that language for now while the offices continue discussion.

What was not decided

No formal committee vote on the strike-all amendment was recorded in the transcript. Committee members asked staff to insert clarifying language (including a provision making VEDA’s determination final and adding a governor-declared disaster exception to the consultation requirement) and to provide a clean copy for further consideration and potential floor action. Several drafting and naming questions — including whether to rename the statutory text now called the “Vermont Sustainable Jobs Strategy” — were left for later consideration.

Context and background

Witnesses told the committee the Sustainable Jobs Strategy was last developed under a prior administration (Governor Howard Dean) and has guided rare, discretionary uses of VEDA authority, particularly for downtown real-estate investment that supports new tenants and economic activity. Palimas said VEDA has 15 members (10 appointed and five ex officio), uses the Sustainable Jobs Strategy “prudent[ly],” and typically requires multiple policy criteria in practice even where the statute would allow funding based on a single objective.

Next steps

Committee staff said they would incorporate the drafting clarifications discussed — including explicit language about the authority’s discretion and the disaster-declaration exception — and prepare a clean draft for committee consideration prior to any floor action. No final votes or formal amendments were adopted during the recorded discussion.