Committee reviews bill to remove recurring sunsets from Vermont economic growth incentives program
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Summary
The committee examined S.225, which would repeal recurring sunset review requirements for the Vermont economic growth incentives program. Sponsors framed it as a technical cleanup; members raised oversight and naming issues and asked for stakeholder testimony before any amendment or floor action.
The committee heard an overview of S.225, a one-page bill that would remove the recurring sunset review for the Vermont economic growth incentives program (referred to in committee discussion as the “Veggie” program). Unidentified Speaker 3 described the measure as "a very simple bill" addressing the program's repeated sunsetting, and Unidentified Speaker 4 said the bill would remove the need to return every few years to renew the program.
Unidentified Speaker 4 reviewed the program’s legislative history, citing Act 157 of 2016 as the statute that originally set an earlier sunset date. He told the committee the law was overhauled in 2016 and that the current draft would stop the cycle of three-year sunsets that the committee has repeatedly revisited.
Committee members pressed for clarifications about what the repeal would do in practice. Unidentified Speaker 4 said, "This repeal does not kill Veggie. It kills the application approval," clarifying that the statute would remain but application approvals could be affected unless the committee amended the bill. Members also spotted a naming/typography issue: the program’s label appeared incorrectly in one online source, and Unidentified Speaker 4 said he would amend the bill language to correct the program name to the proper statutory title if the committee moves it forward.
Several members emphasized the value of periodic review for oversight. The chair said the committee would invite program staff and stakeholders to testify, and asked the office to post related reports on the committee website. No motion or vote was recorded at this session; the committee indicated it would schedule witnesses from the incentive program and other experts before deciding whether to amend or advance S.225.
Next steps: staff will post the report materials, the bill sponsor signaled readiness to amend the program name if needed, and the committee will take testimony from program representatives and other stakeholders before taking formal action.
