Senate draft economic bill would add funding for small-business legal aid, film, outdoor recreation and trade work

The Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs considered a draft economic development bill that would add multiple targeted appropriations to support small businesses, the film sector, outdoor-recreation firms and Vermont’s international trade capacity, legislative intern Helen R. Graves told the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee on Feb. 28.

The bill’s second section would direct funding for small-business supports. Graves said the draft would appropriate $300,000 to provide small-business legal and counseling services (the transcript text described the recipient variably as the Department of Economic Development or Vermont Law and Graduate School). The Professionals of Color Network requested $350,000 — $100,000 more than in the governor’s budget — to expand workforce and business-development services. The bill also proposes $688,889 for the Small Business Development Center, including roughly $300,000 above the governor’s budget to expand services to about 200 additional entrepreneurs, Graves said. The draft would add $100,000 to the Department of Economic Development for a business resource guide (a combined website and annual publication) and directs $581,000 of the small-business allocation to micro-business development through community action partnerships.

The measure would also raise a statutory cap on awards for a named tax-credit program from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 annually, a change Graves said the draft includes and which also appears in the governor’s budget.

Arts, film and outdoor-recreation funding are also in the draft. The Vermont Arts Council and a Vermont Film and Creative Media Initiative requested an aggregate increase of $1,071,800; Graves said that equals an annual increase of $68,737 to match an expected federal grant. She reported the committee heard that the state match may be required for the federal grant and that "there are people actively working on contingency plans" but that committee members were proceeding "as if that federal funding is established and stable, at least at this point," reflecting the committee exchange.

The draft would provide about $120,000 to build an online film-industry database and staff capacity, and would appropriate $250,000 to the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation to support the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance’s Climate and Circularity Outdoor Business Program (technical assistance, workshops and consultations), Graves said.

On international trade, the bill would appropriate $350,000 to the Department of Economic Development’s International Trade Division to hire international recruitment consultants, develop site-selection data and mapping tools for investors, and run events.

Committee members asked for clarifications in committee hearings, Graves reported: Senator Brock asked about contingency plans if the federal arts grant did not materialize; Senator Clarkson said committee staff are working on contingency planning but that no cancellation threat had been identified. Senators also pressed for explicit language naming who should convene a proposed task force on access to capital (the draft contemplates a task force but seeks more specific direction), and sought details on eligibility questions for a Vermont training program that affect who may receive services.

Graves, who attended the Senate hearings, offered to provide a more detailed report on any particular section if the House committee wanted greater detail.

Why it matters: the bill would shift several policy and funding priorities for small businesses, creative industries and outdoor-sector firms in Vermont, and contains statutory and programmatic changes that would affect program eligibility and the state’s capacity to match federal grants.