Vermont Chamber urges technical fixes to Act 250/Act 181, supports opt‑out for Tier 1b and base funding for successful programs

Megan Sullivan, vice president for government affairs at the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, told the committee that recent state and federal funding allowed experimentation and created new developers in the market, but that legislative fixes are needed to sustain progress and increase housing production.

Sullivan praised programs such as the rental revolving loan fund and VHIP for producing affordable units in rural communities and argued they should move from one‑time to base funding so staff and outcomes are sustainable. “Moving that to base funding may really, really support,” she said, adding that these programs have enabled over 600 unique developers to participate and helped projects across the state.

On land‑use policy, Sullivan criticized some mapping outcomes from Act 250/Act 181 and urged a technical corrections bill to realign the mapping with legislative intent. She argued that Tier 1b should be easier for communities to use and told the committee, “We would fully support… that it’d be an opt out,” meaning the default would make priority housing areas available unless a town specifically opted out rather than requiring towns to opt in.

Sullivan flagged other barriers: municipal plan/zoning mismatches that invite appeals, impact fees that can negate affordability gains, wetlands and permitting complexity for small developers, and capacity constraints among local engineers and permitting staff. She said the Chamber is pursuing a regulatory deep‑dive grant to identify duplicative or unnecessarily burdensome rules and expects to bring recommendations to the legislature.

Next steps: Sullivan asked lawmakers for a technical corrections bill, urged continued support for base funding of proven programs, and offered to return with stakeholder details from the chamber’s regulatory review work.