The Vermont Senate on Thursday passed a broad bill to encourage community and workforce development that would appropriate nearly $89 million for a range of initiatives, from paying people to move to Vermont to supporting arts organizations hurt by the pandemic.
The bill, H.159, now heads back to the House to reconcile differences.
The legislation has already been a target of criticism from Gov. Phil Scott, who has raised alarms over the bill’s pared-down funding.
Scott’s spokesperson, Jason Maulucci, said Thursday that it’s “too soon to say whether the Governor will sign the final product,” adding that “the bill currently pales in comparison to the economic development package the Governor proposed, and what he believes is needed.”
“The Governor put forward a $100 million plan to help grow the economy across the state, and in particular support rural areas that have seen stagnation or decline over the past decade,” Maulucci said in an email to VTDigger. “They have slashed this needed funding.”
Last year, the Legislature appropriated $10.5 million for the state’s capital investment program, which provides grants to businesses and nonprofits for “transformational projects” that will encourage investment and create jobs in each region of Vermont.
At a press conference on April 5, Commissioner of Economic Development Joan Goldstein said her department received 100 applications for $90 million in projects from child care facilities, performing arts venues, museums, restaurants and breweries. So this year, Scott asked for an additional $50 million.
Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, said the Senate added $20 million in forgivable loans to businesses, something the governor had asked for.
Sirotkin said he would also like to add a $50 million reduction in federal taxes for small businesses. The Senate Finance Committee will hear additional testimony on the proposal and Sirotkin said it could still make its way into law.
Among other changes, Senate lawmakers tweaked the guidelines from a previous version of the bill for the state’s worker relocation program. In its current form, it would reimburse people who move to Vermont with up to $5,000, and up to $7,500 if they move to an area where unemployment is higher than in the state as a whole or where average wages are lower than in the state as a whole.
Unlike previous versions of this program, the Senate version of the bill proposes that applicants be approved before they move to Vermont but reimbursed only once they have moved. People could be reimbursed for moving costs, closing costs on a primary home, rental security deposits and first month’s rent.
But that program may not survive the House.
“The relocated worker pieces that are in there are problematic for us,” said Rep. Michael Marcotte, R-Coventry, chair of the House Committee on Economic Development. “And so that could be eliminated. We’re not sure yet.”
Marcotte said his committee is likely to amend the bill next week, after which the House would vote on it and send it back to the Senate.
The Senate version of the bill would raise the minimum wage from $12.55 an hour currently to $13.75 as of Jan. 1 and to $15 as of 2024.
The Senate bill would allocate $16.5 million in federal money for a Covid relief fund that offers grants to businesses who keep employees on the payroll when they have to stay home because of Covid. Employers can get reimbursed for up to 67% of an employee’s wages while they are out sick or isolating or taking care of family members who have to stay home because of Covid. The grants would cover up to 80 hours of absence per employee.
The Senate bill would also increase unemployment compensation by $25 a week starting July 1. The Legislature attempted to boost unemployment last year, but the U.S. Department of Labor ruled that Vermont could not use its unemployment trust fund to pay for it. Instead, H.159 sets aside an $8 million fund using federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for the extra benefit.
The Senate bill appropriates $5 million to the Vermont Arts Council for grants to creative economy businesses and nonprofits that have suffered losses during the pandemic.
The bill would also appropriate $26.9 million to address “critical needs” in nursing and skilled trades and to provide training opportunities to young adult Vermonters who want to learn new skills. Those programs passed the House under another bill, H.703, now being considered by the Senate.
