Increasing Workforce Participation Is the #1 Issue
Committee Advances Act 250 Bill
Tourism Marketing Effort Advances
House Committee Hears Tax Recommendations
Minimum Wage Bill Vetoed
In Case You Missed It
Increasing Workforce Participation Is the #1 Issue
The House Commerce Committee reviewed H.703, a proposal to create a workforce development provider portal to enable providers, educators, training program administrators, and others to exchange information about services. As the Committee works on this bill, the Vermont Chamber will explain our track record on workforce initiatives. For the past four years, the Vermont Chamber has led the effort to increase workforce participation since members have identified the lack of people to fill open jobs as their number one issue. This is true regardless of size of employer, geographic location, or industry. Vermont needs more people in the workforce.
Our research and education foundation, the Vermont Futures Project, identified that Vermont needs 11,000 new workers each year. With that as our goal, we have worked to get Vermonters off the sidelines and into the workforce by supporting criminal justice reform, helping employers hire people in recovery, encouraging mature workers to remain in the workforce, and supporting the workforce training programs currently funded by the State. Additionally, we are working to attract more people to consider Vermont as a place to live and work. We have secured $250,000 for marketing, and have supported the remote worker and Stay to Stay programs. Chamber member, Pomerleau Real Estate, produced an infographic that summarizes this work.
Committee Advances Act 250 Bill
After a long and tedious reform effort, changes to Act 250 advanced this week. The House Natural Resources Committee passed their Act 250 bill by a 6-3-2 vote. The process to update Act 250 began in 2018, with the Commission on Act 250 traveling Vermont to hear public comment on the state’s largest land use law. The Committee was tasked with using recommendations generated by the Commission as a reference to aid in the development of an updated version of the law. In 2019, the Vermont Chamber weighed in on the future of Act 250, offering a series of recommendations in delivered testimony.
In January, the Scott Administration and the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) presented the Committee with a mutually supported plan to update the State’s principal land use law. Included in the testimony was a proposal to replace District Commissions with three-member professional boards. Doing so would greatly increase consistency in the permitting process. Over the last several years, businesses have expressed frustration with the often inconsistent and unpredictable paths of the existing permit process. The recommendations also included Act 250 permit exemptions for projects within municipalities holding downtown designations. These exemptions would better allow for economic growth, while also limiting the negative environmental impacts of sprawl. In the version passed by the Committee, legislators chose to include several of the joint recommendations, including provisions that add greater consistency to the permitting process, as well as sections that better enable development in zones that hold municipal designations.
Unfortunately, the Committee also chose to lower the elevation threshold that trigger Act 250 (from 2,500 feet to 2000 feet), an aspect of the current bill that the Vermont Chamber opposes. Lowering the elevation threshold would bring hundreds of thousands of acres of additional Vermont land into Act 250 jurisdiction, which will generally result in a devaluation of privately held portions of that land. The legislation now moves the Senate, where the Vermont Chamber will continue to engage legislators to ensure that recommendations from the business community are reflected in final Act 250 legislation. Specifically, the Vermont Chamber will oppose any legislation related to Act 250 that unreasonably burdens or restricts economic growth in rural or urban communities.
Tourism Marketing Effort Advances
The House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development reviewed and marked up H.705 in an effort to be inclusive of Governor Scott’s $1 million investment announced for tourism, economic development, and outdoor recreation marketing. The additional $500,000 for Vermont destination marketing is a part of this $1 million package.
This increased investment will allow the Department to further engage towns, businesses, and destinations to ensure the most compelling stories of Vermont are being told to potential visitors. Conversations are expected to continue next week.
Individuals and businesses can join the Vermont Chamber in urging the Legislature to invest in Vermont tourism by signing the petition to show support of the increased investment.
House Committee Hears Tax Recommendations
Christopher Sullivan, attorney with Rath, Young, and Pignatelli, P.C, briefed the House Ways and Means Committee on some aspects of Vermont’s current tax structures as the Committee considers potential changes. Sullivan also highlighted reforms that could help increase the state’s competitiveness. The Committee was receptive to Sullivan’s testimony, which provided an informative overview of the unique corporate tax structure that exists in Vermont. Testimony also focused on the proposed legislation that would change Vermont’s double-weighted corporate income tax to a triple-weighted structure. Sullivan recommended moving to a single-weighted corporate income tax. He pointed out that Vermont already has one of the most aggressive corporate tax bases and that single sales factor would help in-state businesses with significant property and payroll. It would also increase Vermont’s competitiveness in attracting new jobs and property by bringing the state sales factor in line with most other New England states.
The Vermont Chamber believes in a consistent and predictable fiscal policy that does not increase the tax burden on businesses or their customers. Given that Vermont has one of the most progressive tax systems in the country, we continue our work to ensure that annual budget decisions are made consistent with available revenue.
Minimum Wage Bill Vetoed
Governor Scott vetoed S.23, the minimum wage increase bill that would have cost businesses $121 million in additional payroll allocation. Analysis conducted by the Joint Fiscal Office indicates the bill would cost the state and private sector $53 million in 2021, and $121 million in additional payroll allocation in 2022. The proposed increases would also slightly suppress (by 0.08%) the State’s total GDP growth over the same period. Legislators on the conference committee tasked with finalizing the bill also verbally indicated that the proposed two-year phase-in to a wage target of $12.55 by 2022 would serve as a jump start for future increases. In his veto message, Governor Scott expressed his concern about the potential detrimental economic impacts of additional minimum wage increases on businesses in rural communities.
The Senate overrode the Governor’s veto by a 24-6 vote. House leadership will face a far greater challenge corralling the same two-thirds vote count, which is necessary to override a veto. When initially passed in the House, S.23 did not meet the two-thirds threshold necessary for an override. A tri-partisan group of House legislators continue to express concerns about the detrimental impact the proposed increases will have on businesses in their districts, including rural businesses that will be most harmed by additional wage mandates.
The Vermont Chamber has repeatedly testified on the negative impacts of minimum wage increases beyond those already in statute, including by highlighting that small businesses in rural areas will face out sized difficulties in adjusting to any new wage mandates.
In Case You Missed It
Legislation: Two Years After DUI, Sen. Debbie Ingram Wants to Tighten Legal Limit
Federal Funding: Welch Bill Would Boost Federal Funding for Vermont Trails
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