Senate Finance committee advances H.949 after amendment to expand renter credit

The Senate Finance Committee voted to adopt amendment 5.1 to H.949 and approved the bill as amended, the committee chair said after a recorded 7-0 vote.

The amendment, presented by a committee presenter, would expand the state—s renter tax credit in two ways: raising the statutory cap and changing the maximum calculation used to set the credit from 10% of fair market rent to 12.5% of fair market rent, according to the presenter—s walkthrough. Committee materials shown in the meeting also included an Ed Fund outlook that listed a $4,000,000 general-fund transfer line and a hypothetical $100,900,000 total that, if used to uniformly lower property tax bills, corresponded with an average uniform bill change presented as 3.8%.

"The renter credit expansion, and cap increase will take effect this July 1," the presenter said when describing effective-date and sunset language in the amendment; the presenter also said the statutory provisions tied to the 's 2 20' language would run through July 1, 2027.

Committee members spoke in support of the amendment as a measure to assist renters and working- and middle-class households. "Affordability is a big issue in the state of Vermont as we all know," the chair said, thanking colleagues for the effort to provide some relief while noting the change will not create the same impact as larger proposals.

On procedure, the amendment replaces a reserve provision from the house draft with what the presenter described as 's 2 20' provisions that exclude certain bond payments from excess-spending calculations, set an excess-spending threshold (described in the draft as 112%), add hold-harmless provisions and a review process, and direct editorial attention to ensure the cap is updated consistently in multiple sections of the bill.

After adopting the amendment by recorded vote, a member moved to approve H.949 as amended. The committee completed the recorded/voice actions and the chair said staff will report the bill out of committee.

The committee recorded the amendment vote as 7 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions. The committee did not announce a separate roll-call spreadsheet with individual yes/no names tied to the final approval vote in the transcript excerpt; the clerk called each name during the recorded vote on the amendment and recorded "yes." Committee materials and the final printed amendment should be consulted for exact statutory text and any numeric corrections.

The committee adjourned its work and said it will report H.949 as amended to the next stage for further consideration.