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Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs sets housing and workforce as top priorities, imposes new bill drafting deadline
Summary
Chair Allison Clarkson told the committee Jan. 6 that housing, workforce development and economic development will be focal points this session and that committee bills must have substance drafted by January; she cited an Act 69 task force estimate of about 600 housing units needed for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
MONTPELIER — The Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs committee opened its 2026 session on Jan. 6 with Chair Allison Clarkson setting an aggressive agenda that places housing, workforce development and economic development at the top of the committee’s priorities.
“We’re gonna be jumping right in with economic development and housing,” Clarkson said during the meeting, and she warned of a new internal timeline: “the committee bills have to at least be the…the substance has to be identified and drafted by January,” a requirement she described as new pressure on the panel’s work.
Clarkson said the committee will take up several housing-related items this session, including a landlord–tenant bill that leaders expect to affect eviction timelines. She also cited work from the Act 69 task force on housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, saying “it’s estimated at the moment about 600 housing opportunities for, for these citizens of ours,” and that the committee will consider that report and related bills.
Committee members said workforce development and career and technical education will be coordinated in joint hearings with the Education Committee. Senator Dave Weeks and others noted prior summer outreach and school visits informed the committee’s approach to CTE and related labor issues.
Clarkson asked members to consider adjusting meeting times to meet the heavier workload; members agreed to review the next two weeks’ schedule (currently 9 a.m.–noon) and to consider occasional 8:30 a.m. starts to accommodate drafting and review timelines.
The committee also highlighted the role of creative industries within the economic development portfolio, noting artwork displayed in state spaces is intended to support artists as part of the broader creative economy effort.
The committee adjourned and will reconvene at 9 a.m. the next day to begin hearings on economic development and housing matters, including testimony from incoming Economic Development Commissioner Lyle Jackson and the housing commissioner.
