Committee hears testimony on H.34 to clarify Vermont workforce leadership and create coordinating office

House Commerce & Economic Development committee members on Jan. 29, 2025 took testimony on H.34, an act relating to workforce leadership that would clarify duties between the Department of Labor and a newly created Office of Workforce Strategy and Development and formalize several system‑wide tools including a secure job board and a publicly accessible inventory of workforce programs.

The bill seeks to codify changes developed by the statewide SACWED oversight process and earlier legislation, reduce the size of the state workforce board and establish an executive director reporting to the governor to coordinate workforce partners both inside and outside state government.

Adam Grennold, executive director of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation and a former chair of the state workforce development board, told the committee the reforms respond to fragmented regional efforts and the arrival of WIOA funding that required better statewide coordination. He described years of research by the oversight committee (SACWED), study of rural best practices and a legislative process that left some conflicts to be resolved in the current bill. Grennold said the new system would give a single executive director “line of sight” across agencies and external partners and noted the board size has been reduced from the mid‑60s at its peak to 27 members under the new structure.

Michael Harrington, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, told members the department participated in SACWED and in drafting the bill and that the primary objective was to clarify the Office of Workforce Strategy and Development’s and the executive director’s duties while preserving the commissioner’s authorities required by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Harrington and Jay Ramsey, workforce development director at the Department of Labor, emphasized the bill aims to balance a nimble, coordinating executive role with the commissioner’s federally required responsibilities for program delivery, layoff aversion and reemployment services.

Kendall Smith, deputy commissioner, and Sabina Haskell, the new executive director of the Office of Workforce Strategy and Development (who said she was in week four on the job), expressed support for the bill and described recent outreach to partners. Haskell said she had been meeting with stakeholders and that partners were “very excited” about coordinated efforts to strengthen the state workforce system.

Business and sector representatives generally supported H.34 while offering drafting suggestions. Jeremy Little, policy and outreach associate for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber broadly supported the bill but requested stronger language on employee retention, employer marketing of programs and packaging of resources; he said he would submit suggested language. Molly Meyer, president of Ski Vermont (presenting as the Vermont Ski Area Association), described workforce needs in that industry and detailed an existing registered Tramway maintenance technician apprentice program of about 6,000 hours (approximately three years) that includes on‑the‑job training and roughly 75 class hours per level per year; she told the committee that better coordination and clearer paths could help place students into year‑round and seasonal positions.

Ellen Kaylor of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund supported the office’s sector‑level perspective, noting that workforce issues differ by sector and that a system‑level coordinator could help align training and employers across industries. Tom Chaney, an executive director who asked procedural questions about the job board and inventory requirements, and Rick Segal of the Office of Legislative Council raised clarifying points about specific lines in the draft language. Much of the committee discussion focused on wording: whether to add explicit language about “improving retention” in addition to “reducing layoffs and business closures,” and how narrowly or broadly to define the inventory and the job board. Jay Ramsey and others cautioned that ‘‘retention’’ can imply matters of individual choice distinct from layoff aversion services the Department of Labor administers; the committee did not adopt new language during the hearing.

Committee members also discussed the difference between (1) a secure electronic job board required under federal law for jobseekers and employers, which the Department of Labor already maintains and which must guard against employment fraud, and (2) a publicly accessible inventory of all known workforce education and training programs intended as a searchable policy and funding resource for lawmakers and partners. Witnesses described the inventory as broader than the job board and useful for tracking funding and avoiding duplication across state and federal programs.

No formal vote on H.34 was recorded during the hearing. Committee members said they would review language submitted by the Chamber and other stakeholders and return to the bill at a later markup before floor consideration.

The committee will accept written language proposals from stakeholders and may consider amendments at a subsequent meeting; no final action on H.34 was taken at the Jan. 29 hearing.