Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee makes housing, permitting and scheduling priorities

Allison Clarkson, chair of the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs committee, convened the panel to set its early-session priorities and scheduling, saying the committee will emphasize housing, coordination with House counterparts and timely tracking of reports due to the committee.

The committee’s work matters because senators said housing shortages, permitting delays and unclear jurisdictional lines between Senate and House committees affect the pace of development and the state’s economy. Members described housing as the top priority and called for clearer appeals processes, better coordination between municipal, regional and state permitting, and attention to the cost of living and workforce pay.

“We don’t have to solve a single other problem in this building until we tackle our housing crisis,” Kaysha Robinsdale, former chair of the committee and senator from Chittenden Southeast, said. She recalled past session figures, saying “when I was chair, it was something like 24,000 open jobs and a 1,000 housing listings.” Robinsdale said the committee should continue pushing housing measures and pursue field visits across different community types to understand implementation challenges.

Clarkson opened discussion of the committee’s schedule and operations, proposing an early-week start time. She said the committee will start meetings at 9 a.m. during the first month and consider moving to 8:30 a.m. in February to allow more work time later in the session. Clarkson also asked staff to post reports that are due to the committee on the legislative website and said members will request updates on missing or delayed submissions.

Members urged a focused approach to the mechanics that slow or block housing projects. Several senators described fragmented permitting processes and sequential reviews that create long delays for developers. One senator summarized common complaints: builders confront “12 permits” in sequence, and a single delay or staff absence can hold up a project. Members proposed examining appeals procedures and exploring whether projects that complete municipal and regional planning reviews could be streamlined.

The committee also discussed jurisdictional overlap with other panels. Senators said consumer-protection elements of bills, property-casualty insurance issues and some military or liquor-and-lottery issues intersect with other committees, and Clarkson said she has begun coordinating with House counterparts to clarify which body will take lead on particular bills. Mark Mahali was named in the discussion as the new chair of the relevant House committee that handles some overlapping matters.

Data-privacy legislation drew caution. One member urged restraint on bills that would create a broad private right of action, arguing such provisions would consume considerable committee time and inflame stakeholders. The committee agreed to hear from the attorney general and other experts before deciding whether to take up a data-privacy bill with a private right of action.

Cost and measurement were raised as committee-wide principles. One senator asked that proposed bills include estimates of total cost and a clear plan for measuring return on investment and intermediate benchmarks. Kaysha Robinsdale recommended use of outside tools to inform the committee’s work, saying a cost-of-living analysis shows “Vermont, every county’s cost of living is higher than most metropolitan areas in the country. It's about $135,000 to be able to pay your bills on time,” and urged the panel to consider both costs and wages when crafting policy.

Other items flagged for the committee’s early attention included Act 250 mapping and how the tiered mapping relates to economic development, and review of Agency of Natural Resources permits as potential bottlenecks. Senators asked staff to assemble jurisdiction charts and committee descriptions to reduce confusion about which body handles particular topics.

The committee did not take any formal votes at this meeting. Clarkson said the group will continue priority-setting conversations at its Thursday meeting and will begin a scheduled Department of Labor briefing at 9:30 a.m. that day.