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House Commerce Committee outlines appropriations recommendations for housing, brownfields and small-business supports
Summary
The Vermont House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development on Feb. 26 drafted recommendations to the House Appropriations Committee backing several governor-recommended and committee-proposed appropriations for fiscal year 2026, including housing-related loans and brownfields funding, and signaled high priority for many items.
The Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development met Feb. 26 and spent the session drafting a letter to the House Appropriations Committee that endorses multiple recommended appropriations in the governor's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget.
The committee worked through a list the Appropriations chair had circulated and voiced general agreement to support the governor's requests and a handful of committee-recommended changes, with members repeatedly registering "yes" and marking many items as high priority.
Legislative counsel Rick Sagle told members the committee should start with the items the Appropriations chair highlighted and note whether the committee supports the governor's recommendations. "For example, this committee, the suggestion were was these several portions of the of the budget," Sagle said as he introduced the list for review.
Key items the committee supported or discussed:
- Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) staffing: Committee members agreed to support converting two limited-service positions to continue an additional year and discussed whether a third position might be needed; the item was treated as high priority. The committee noted these positions support the "housing for all" toolkit and related work.
- Vermont Bond Bank / infrastructure: The committee discussed a $9,100,000 general-fund appropriation for the Vermont Bond Bank and broader infrastructure supports. Members described infrastructure funds as important to municipal projects and agreed to mark the request high priority.
- Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) rental and homeownership programs: The committee signaled support for a proposed $15,000,000 Vermont Housing Finance Agency rental revolving loan fund and a separate $15,000,000 request for a VHFA homeownership development program; both were treated as high priority.
- Department of Economic Development requests: The committee endorsed base funding for the Vermont Professionals of Color Network ($250,000) and supported adding a one-time $100,000 to expand the network's technical assistance and basic business-education services for BIPOC entrepreneurs.
- Brownfields Revitalization Fund: The committee discussed a recommended increase to a $6,000,000 total capitalization for the Brownfields Revitilization Fund, with $2,000,000 of that total earmarked for regional planning commission (RPC) assessment grants. Members agreed support and discussed committee language asking Appropriations to consider raising the total beyond the governor's $2,000,000 proposal; the committee also discussed inserting notwithstanding language in the letter to lift a $200,000 per-parcel cap in statute for RPC-supported projects.
- VSAC and education-related supports: Committee members signaled support for funding in the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) budget that continues the Vermont Trade Scholarship and for a small dual-enrollment stipend program. They also discussed a proposed Freedom and Unity scholarship and whether to include caveats tied to availability of funds.
Several items provoked follow-up or drafting clarifications rather than formal disagreement. For example, committee members asked staff to clarify whether a $200,000 per-parcel statutory cap on brownfields grants had already been permanently removed in prior legislation and instructed legislative counsel to include a "notwithstanding" budget-letter sentence if the committee wanted to treat this as a one-time override.
No formal recorded roll-call votes were taken during the session; members expressed support verbally and asked staff to incorporate the committee's priorities and any specific wording into a draft letter that will be finalized and circulated for approval.
Members asked legislative counsel to refine wording and transfer committee edits into the shared draft; staff agreed to continue revisions and present updated language at the committee's next meeting.
Ending
Committee members closed the hour-long session with instructions to staff: finalize the draft language for the committee's budget letter to Appropriations, include the agreed priorities and any "notwithstanding" language the committee chose for brownfields, and circulate the updated draft for final review ahead of the Appropriations deadline.
