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Senate Finance approves H93 draft 1.2 after substituting scholarship-granting rules and PVR/TIF clarifications
Summary
The committee voted to approve draft 1.2 of H93, which replaces tax language with Senate Education’s S161 on scholarship-granting organizations (including reporting and audit provisions), adds clarifying PVR valuation language for communications property, adjusts a downtown village tax credit to $3.5 million, and restates Burlington waterfront tax-increment provisions.
The Senate Finance Committee approved draft 1.2 of H93 after reviewing a set of staff changes that incorporate several substantive provisions.
Committee staff explained that Ways & Means language on scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs) was replaced with Senate Education’s S161. Under the substituted language, the governor may annually submit a list of Vermont organizations that meet federal and state criteria to the U.S. Treasury under 26 U.S.C. §25F. The Vermont additions require eligible SGOs to be 501(c)(3) nonprofits focused on providing educational opportunities to economically underprivileged students, limit scholarships to programs partnered with or approved by public or eligible independent schools, prohibit certain forms of discrimination when awarding scholarships, and impose annual reporting requirements to the legislative education committees covering totals, recipient lists, program partners, donor counts and ZIP codes, administrative costs, unspent funds and officer/board compensation.
Staff also read amendments clarifying property valuation (PVR) language for communication properties: the bill excludes property used solely for one-way broadcast radio or television transmission to the general public and owned and operated by a licensed broadcaster. The committee received a staff briefing on the downtown village center tax credit, which the amendment sets at $3.5 million (the House had set $4 million), and reviewed language drafted by John Gray restating the Burlington water tax-increment financing (TIF) history and clarifying intent for the city to retain specified education and municipal increments through June 30, 2035, subject to an updated TIF plan and future review.
Committee staff also noted effective-date interactions: some clarifying penalty language will not become law until April 1, 2027, unless redrafted, while the SGO changes are effective on passage. After brief discussion, Senator Harding moved to approve draft 1.2; the clerk called the roll. The committee vote recorded several 'yes' votes (Senators Chitten, Beck, Hernie, Brock, Gulick, Mattis, and Cummings were recorded as voting yes in committee minutes) and the motion passed. The draft will be reported out of committee for further consideration by the chamber and, later, by appropriations bodies where fiscal mechanics such as the renter rebate appropriation would be addressed.
What happens next: staff said the bill will move forward as a committee report; several amendments affecting effective dates, penalties and budget interactions remain to be settled in later steps of the process.
