Senate advances bill updating Vermont Economic Development Authority, creates disaster recovery loan fund

The Vermont Senate on the floor ordered third reading of H 3 98, “an act relating to the Vermont Economic Development Authority,” after a committee report and floor discussion that described technical updates to the authority's powers and the creation of a revolving disaster recovery loan fund for businesses and agricultural enterprises.

Senator Chittenden, reporting for the Senate Committee on Finance, told the Senate the bill makes numerous technical and policy updates to the authority’s statute. He said the bill expands definitions of eligible projects, codifies a previously informal “memo from Howard Dean” into statute, broadens the authority’s lending powers beyond mortgage loans to include secured loans tied to equipment or revenue streams, and modernizes governance and administrative rules — including allowing officers to be elected from among authority members and permitting electronic signatures on bonds. “Never seen that before. So I think that's good practice. I'm glad we're cleaning that up,” Senator Chittenden said on the floor.

The bi…