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Committee vets H.534 to rename community service agencies and update board rules
Summary
The committee reviewed H.534, which replaces "community service agencies" with "community action agencies," modernizes people‑first language, clarifies planning expectations, and moves board term‑limit authority from statute to local bylaws; staff were directed to draft revised language and a vote was scheduled for the next session.
The committee examined H.534, a bill that would modernize 3 V.S.A. chapter 59 by replacing the term "community service agencies" with "community action agencies," updating outdated phrasing and adjusting board governance and planning language. Katie McLean of the Office of Legislative Counsel told members "the term community service agencies is used throughout the chapter, and this changes it to community action agencies," and walked the committee through several technical edits to sections 39.01–39.05.
Joshua Davis, executive director of Southeastern Vermont Community Action and representing Vermont Community Action Partnership (VCAP), told the committee VCAP "is unanimously in favor of the changes that are proposed here," and said the most substantial policy element is allowing individual community action agencies to set their own board term limits rather than following a prescriptive five‑ and ten‑year cap currently in the statute.
Lily Sojourner, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, said most edits are technical but flagged two points for clarity: the three‑year requirement in the draft pertains to the community needs assessment and the agencies already submit an annual work plan. "The community needs assessment is happening every 3 years," Sojourner said, and she recommended that statutory language make clear how the needs assessment and the annual work plan relate so the bill does not expand existing obligations.
Committee members discussed adopting federal‑style language for board composition (a minimum of one‑third of board members representing people with low income, one‑third elected officials or designees, and the remainder other sectors). Members asked counsel to revise the ordering so the statute lists representatives of people with low income first and to insert a clear "minimum of one third" threshold.
The committee directed Lily Sojourner, Joshua Davis, and Katie McLean to develop concise draft language reflecting current federal requirements and to circulate options for the committee to review at the next session. The chair said the committee would review the updated draft the following morning and could vote on H.534 then if members are satisfied with the language.
What happens next: committee counsel will circulate revised statutory language for member review; the committee scheduled a potential vote on H.534 at the next meeting.
