Land Access and Opportunity Board outlines programs, seeks funding from cannabis excise tax

The Land Access and Opportunity Board (LAOB) told the House Committee on General & Housing on Jan. 21 that it has spent its first year building community relationships and capacity and is seeking state funding to scale direct services, including down-payment and land-access assistance.

"We believe foundationally that when those who are most marginalized do better, we all do better," Orneta Mata Figueroa, Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement for the Land Access and Opportunity Board, said in the presentation to the committee. The board described itself as an independent state body created in 2022 to address disparities in homeownership for historically and systematically marginalized Vermonters.

The LAOB described three primary program areas: community engagement and advisory work that feeds state policymaking, capacity building to help communities access grants and other resources, and direct investments such as grants and technical assistance for emerging developers. Jean Hamilton, Director of Program Development for the LAOB, told the committee that the board "is an…