Senate amends economic and workforce bill, strips appropriations and advances S.122 to third reading

The Vermont Senate on a voice vote accepted a substitute amendment to S.122 on March 25 that strikes or makes contingent the bill's spending provisions and ordered the measure read a third time.

Senator Clarkson of Windsor, sponsor of S.122, described the bill as focused "primarily [on] increasing our supports for Vermont's small business sector," saying the measure would invest in existing programs rather than create numerous new ones. The bill as introduced would raise the annual Vermont Downtown and Village Tax Credit from $3 million to $5 million and make targeted investments in small-business technical assistance, legal clinics, outreach to businesses of color, microbusiness development, coaching, the Vermont Arts Council, and an effort to expand trade and film/media opportunities.

The Senate Appropriations Committee offered a substitute amendment that removes appropriations language from sections 1 through 5 and other spending subsections, leaving program language contingent on future budget appropriations. Senator Perchlik of Washington, reporting for Appropriations, said the amendment "strikes all the expenditures and appropriations that are in the bill" while preserving program text as contingent on funding. The Senate adopted the substitute amendment by voice vote and then ordered the bill read a third time.

Clarkson outlined major elements of the bill on the floor: increasing downtown and village tax credits, boosting capacity at the Vermont Small Business Development Center with an additional $300,000 request, $300,000 for the Vermont Small Business Law Center (to meet demand after its federal funding ends in 2026), expanded support for the Vermont Professionals of Color Network, a resource guide and centralized information hub for entrepreneurs, microbusiness development funding, coaching through the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center, and support for the Vermont Arts Council including a $1,071,800 match to draw down federal National Endowment for the Arts funds.

The bill also would create a Vermont Ireland Trade Commission, a 10-member pilot commission housed in the treasurer's office with members appointed by the governor, speaker and committee on committees, and establish a task force to study a convention center and major performance venue. Clarkson said the film- and media-related provision would create an online database of Vermont film and creative-media assets with $120,000 appropriated in fiscal 2026 to the Vermont Arts Council to build and maintain it and a part-time staff position to serve as a point of contact.

Members pressed sponsors on details during floor discussion. A senator from Addison said she preferred the bill without the appropriations, noting the state's limited fiscal capacity; another asked why the Ireland commission included six legislative appointees on a 10-member panel. Clarkson responded that the appointees named by the speaker and committee on committees need not be legislators and were expected to have business, trade or international experience. The Appropriations report clarified removal of per-diem payments and reimbursements from commissioner compensation language where those items carried expenditures.

Committee reports recorded favorable recommendations before the Appropriations substitute: the Finance Committee recommended passage; the Appropriations Committee recommended the substitute amendment. Committee vote tallies reported in the transcript included a 7-0-0 vote in Finance and various committee tallies on amendments reported by Appropriations (committee straw poll noted 7-0-0 for the substitute amendment).

The Senate adopted the Appropriations substitute amendment and then ordered third reading of S.122. Because appropriations were removed on the floor, the bill's program text remains but its implementation is contingent on future appropriations and budget processes.

If enacted as amended, the bill would leave many programmatic directives intact but dependent on funding decisions made in the budget process; sponsors and members noted the House could further alter details during its consideration.

Ending: The Senateaction advances S.122 to third reading with the spending elements removed or made contingent; the bill still contains multiple programmatic directives affecting downtown revitalization, small-business supports, arts and trade development, and studies for a convention center and trade commission.