Senate committee reviews draft 1.3 economic development bill; leaders debate small‑business funding, Ireland trade commission and task forces

The Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee took up draft 1.3 of an economic development bill at a live committee meeting (also streamed on Zoom), reviewing proposed funding for small‑business supports, new and revised task forces on capital and venues, and language to create a Vermont–Ireland Trade Commission included in section 6 of the draft.

The draft would layer new spending requests on top of items already in the governor’s budget, committee members were told. Witnesses and staff described several one‑time and continuing increases intended to expand legal and advising services, microbusiness supports and a resource guide for very small and solo entrepreneurs. Ellen Kaylor, who identified herself as "Ellen Kaylor from Onsale," told the committee: "As a reminder, this grew out of our small business Wednesday conversation with you all on January 29." The committee’s discussion ranged from the practicality of routing funds through existing entities to the ethics and disclosure rules for a proposed international trade commission.

Why it matters: The bill assembles a range of economic supports—from legal help to business coaching and marketing—into a single bill that must still clear appropriations. Committee members repeatedly noted that money requested in policy bills is often stripped by Appropriations and urged the sponsors to prioritize programs that are already demonstrably working.

Key funding and program details

- Small‑business advising and legal supports: The draft includes multiple funding items that sponsors described as a mix of what is in the governor’s budget and additional asks. Witnesses identified specific amounts included in the draft: $350,000 proposed for a "professionals of color" network (committee discussion described this as an increase above the governor’s one‑time recommendation), a $300,000 increase to expand services through the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC), and a $100,000 one‑time allocation to support a collaborative that would produce an online resource guide for solo entrepreneurs and microbusinesses. Committee staff said they were assembling a spreadsheet to show what is in the governor’s ask, what is new and the total requested.

- Business‑owner coaching: Sponsors removed a proposed statutory change to the Vermont Training Program and instead placed $120,000 (one time) with the Vermont Small Business Development Center to contract with programs that provide more intensive coaching (the bill text and witnesses contrasted VtSBDC’s typical 6‑hour advising engagements with longer coaching programs that can deliver 100+ hours).

- Microbusiness and community action agency supports: The draft includes an additional ask to support microbusiness advising run by Vermont’s community action agencies; a sponsor said the additional ask for that component is an $87,000 increment.

- Timeline and conditions: The resource‑guide work was described as a one‑time project to be completed before the end of 2026; several grants and contracts that fund current operations for a small business legal center were described as expiring in mid‑2026 (one witness gave dates: May 30, 2026 and June 30, 2026 for two expiring grants).

Witness testimony and administration input

- Ellen Kaylor (Onsale) walked the committee through the sections of draft 1.3 that the sponsors had revised and emphasized the bill’s focus on expanding services for small businesses.

- A representative identified as Nicole (Small Business Legal Center) described the center’s recent funding history: initial support from the VtSBDC, a community navigator pilot, a congressionally directed spending grant that expires in July 2026, and a small contract tied to a state small business credit initiative that also expires in mid‑2026. She said the center had done roughly 400 intakes and about 300 educational consults/referrals over the past two years and was seeking to sustain and grow capacity (including a possible staff attorney) if additional funding is available.

- Committee members repeatedly asked staff to compile fiscal totals and to run figures through JFO (Joint Fiscal Office) so the committee could see a consolidated cost picture before final decisions.

Ireland trade commission and funding/disclosure debate

Section 6 of draft 1.3 would create a Vermont–Ireland Trade Commission; the bill text presented to the committee was described as the house language that the House passed last year. Pro Tem Paul (Pro Tem Paul) summarized the rationale: "If we can increase our international trade, we should do that. It just seems to me a no brainer." He said the House had already done preparatory work and that the commission language set appointment and procedural rules.

Committee members and counsel focused on subsection g, which authorizes the commission to solicit donations, grants and bequests to defray administrative expenses. Several committee members expressed concern about private money flowing into a commission that includes legislators on the membership list and asked for stronger, explicit disclosure rules and ethical guardrails. Ashlyn Doan, director of policy with the treasurer’s office, told the committee: "We do not think that it would take any additional resources from our office to serve the commission, largely staff support," and said the treasurer’s office would administer any fund and could record donations and expenditures in ways that are publicly available.

As the conversation proceeded, the committee coalesced around three changes or clarifications it wanted to see before final approval: (1) require ethics training for commission members (the treasurer’s office said it would require the state standard ethics training for members); (2) expand reporting to require explicit disclosure of in‑kind contributions and any payments or benefits directly received by individual commissioners; and (3) cap any reimbursements tied to private fundraising at standard state per diem/expense rates (committee members suggested using federal Department of State international per diem rates as an upper bound for foreign travel). The committee asked legislative counsel and the ethics commission to advise on precise statutory language.

Task forces: access to capital and convention centers

- Access to capital (section 9): The draft included a task force to study business growth and access to capital. Committee members debated whether to convene a new, legislatively created task force or to ask the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) to produce a staffed report based on ongoing stakeholder engagement. Multiple senators suggested ACCD already convenes these stakeholders and would be better positioned to produce a focused report and recommendations; committee staff agreed to reconfigure the bill so ACCD would be tasked with returning to the committee with findings and recommendations instead of administrators convening a separate standing task force. Sponsors also discussed adding a representative from LaunchVT to the membership list to capture venture/early‑stage investment perspective.

- Convention center and performance venue task force (section 10): Sponsors added membership and clarified powers and duties for a task force charged with studying possible convention center or performance venues. Committee members asked for broader stakeholder representation (for example, regional development commissions, transportation planners and lodging stakeholders) and asked that the task force’s charge explicitly require an economic impact and feasibility component rather than only a descriptive study. The committee discussed a staggered reporting sequence (interim report and final report) to allow time for market and infrastructure analysis; members proposed an interim report in November and a final report the following year to align with legislative drafting deadlines.

Decisions, directions and next steps

- Committee staff agreed to post draft 1.3 on the committee website and to circulate a consolidated fiscal sheet showing which amounts are in the governor’s budget and which are additional asks.

- On the Ireland Trade Commission, the committee asked legislative counsel and the ethics commission to review the fund‑raising and reimbursement language and to provide model disclosure language; the treasurer’s office offered to administer a fund and to record donations and expenditures as public records.

- For the access to capital work, the committee directed sponsors to ask ACCD to return with a report and recommendations rather than immediately standing up a separate, long‑running task force.

- The committee discussed scheduling and indicated a goal of voting the bill out of committee soon (sponsors said they hoped to have an updated draft and fiscal materials before the next meeting and to seek a committee vote the following day).

Ending note

Committee members emphasized limited state resources and recommended prioritizing programs with measurable outcomes. Several members urged stronger measurement and standardized performance metrics across programs the state funds. The committee left the bill open for edits and directed staff and counsel to draft language to address disclosure, per diem/reimbursement caps for the trade commission, and the revised approach to the access‑to‑capital work.