[V]ermont’s businesses are a diverse bunch, but they’re unified on the subject of their top priority for the legislative session: Staffing.
“Employers are having trouble finding people to hire, and that is the issue we’re spending most of our time and energy on,” said Betsy Bishop, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. “There are components of that that enter into the legislative arena, and there are components that don’t, but that’s where our major focus is.”
Getting more workers to Vermont will involve marketing and a culture change, said Matt Musgrave, head of government relations for the Vermont Associated General Contractors. He’d like the Legislature to help with programs that steer young people to construction careers. Right now, he said, too many are being advised to pursue four-year degrees.
“A lot of folks don’t see construction as a pathway, but some of the young people we see come out of school, they’re driving brand-new pickups around,” he said. “They don’t have college debt, and they’re making $15 to $20 an hour out of high school, which is pretty decent in Vermont.”
A critical component of getting more workers is getting more people into the state in general, said Bishop. For her, legislative support would take the form of supporting state programs that aim to attract outsiders.
The non-partisan Vermont Futures Project predicts that Vermont will need nearly 11,000 workers each year to meet economic development goals. Bishop supports the agency’s Remote Worker program, which offers to pay moving expenses up to $10,000 for people who move to Vermont to work remotely.
“We’re encouraged by that program and we’ll be involved in helping to refine that and make it available to an even broader population,” she said. “We think that was good programming.”
Here are some of the other issues business leaders expect to bring up or respond to this winter and spring:
Right to repair
Supporters of “right to repair” legislation want to require electronics companies to make available authorized parts so that independent stores and individuals can repair consumer electronic products, including phones, tablets and computers. Many electronics manufacturers invalidate warranties if repairs or modifications are made anywhere other than authorized shops.
The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce will probably oppose legislation that’s expected this year, said President Tom Torti.
“The official form tends to be the most strident,” he said. “Then we’ll find a balance. Most bills are not intrinsically bad or intrinsically perfect. There is some middle ground and that’s usually where people want us to be.”
Minimum wage, paid family leave
Vermont was one of only 10 states where real median household income declined in 2017, according to the nonprofit Public Assets Institute. The group is calling for political leaders to increase the buying power of low- and moderate-income Vermonters.
“One thing that would help would be to finish what the Legislature started in 2018 and set a deadline for raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour,” Public Assets said in a set of policy recommendations released in December.
With paid family leave, Associated General Contractor wants assurances that the system won’t be abused. One way to do that is to define who can be considered a caretaker, Musgrave said.
“I believe it’s something that’s needed,” he said. “It’s not the nuclear family anymore. But I could be getting paid all year long because I have 20 relatives who are sick.”
Both issues are priorities for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.
The Vermont Chamber of Commerce would like to see the wage for service or tipped employees, such as restaurant servers, detached from the prevailing minimum wage rate. Right now, that server wage is set at half the prevailing wage.
Restaurants are advocating for this move because tipped employees are already guaranteed the full hourly minimum wage rate if their tips don’t make up that wage in a pay period.
Act 250
Finding a funding source for Act 250, Vermont’s chief environmental law, is a top priority for VBSR. Finding such a source that doesn’t divert money away from public construction projects is the goal of the AGC.
The AGC would also like to see the nine Act 250 districts coordinated to make the permitting process more predictable.
“We appreciate the purpose of Act 250; it’s one of the things driving the value of our state, not only financially but by protecting the environment,” Musgrave said. “But you have nine districts that are volunteers that they are all supposed to play to the same drummer, but may or may not.”
Bank robbery statute
Bank robbery is a federal crime, but Vermont and 48 other states have no bank robbery statute. State prosecutors have to make do with an assault and robbery statute. The Vermont Bankers Association wants a specific bank robbery statute that mirrors the federal language and gives state prosecutors another tool to use in prosecuting criminals, with stronger penalties.
Mortgage life insurance
Mortgage borrowers who get a loan from a specific bank often get a notice in the mail within a week or two saying that they’re qualified for mortgage life insurance. Those letters include the name of the bank where the borrower obtained a mortgage.
“While that’s allowable, the problem is the customer is jumping to a conclusion that the bank shared their information” said Chris D’Elia, the president of the Vermont Bankers Association. “We want that to stop.”
Insurers should need the bank’s permission to use its name, he said.
Financial information privacy
The bankers association is watching for legislative proposals concerning the privacy of bank customer and non-customer data, data breaches, notification requirements and data security.
D’Elia’s group wants minimum standards for retailers that would protect banks from the fraud losses they incur when small businesses don’t have data security measures in place.
“We’d like to see a discussion about whether it’s time for all businesses collecting data to have some baseline of standards in place to secure that data,” D’Elia said. “Sitting on the sidelines and saying, “It’s not my problem” isn’t really acceptable anymore.”
Medicaid asset verification
Banks are increasingly being asked by the state to carry out asset verifications to help determine if people on programs like Medicaid are truly eligible.
D’Elia said that the mandate carries steep costs for banks. In just the first three quarters of this year, he said, 12 banks that responded to an association survey reported 25,197 asset reporting requests. It cost the banks $200,000 to respond, he said.
Banks should be able to bill for this service at cost, D’Elia said.
“It’s the third asset verification request we’ve had from the state in the last two and half years,” he said. “The others are delinquent taxpayers to the state, and elder fraud cases. These things add up.”
Cannabis
The banks have no specific state legislative goals right now when it comes to cannabis, but D’Elia expects to see a legalization bill introduced.
In Vermont, “if they move to tax and regulate, we’ll do what we’ve been doing, which is provide education on our level of comfort and where we are with federal regulations,” he said.
Other business groups, including the AGC and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, would like some employers to be able to carry out random drug testing, something Vermont outlawed in 1987. Musgrave said his association members want to make sure workers aren’t impaired by any substance while using heavy equipment.
Debt collection
The Vermont bankers are watching for a debt collection bill that is related to credit cards. D’Elia said advocates want to make it more difficult for the credit card companies to collect credit card debt.
“We’re trying to negotiate what would be a reasonable compromise,” he said.
Student Loans
VBSR would also like a change in law that would give a tax-free benefit to employer programs that pay down the student loans of workers.
