Greetings from Montpelier,

Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks to those who joined me and Rep Garofano for our Coffee Chat last weekend. It was great to connect with our Chittenden 23 constituents.

Please note that we are also having an Essex Delegation Community Conversation this Saturday, February 15th 9am - 10:30am at the Nest coffee shop in Essex Junction.

This week, Vermont House Dems held a press conference featuring a range of voices, including legislators, housing advocates, contractors, and professionals working with Vermont's most vulnerable populations. Speakers discussed the urgent need for affordable and accessible housing, proposed policy solutions, and the importance of collaboration to address the state's housing challenges.

The Committee on General and Housing heard the Futures Project's Vermont Economic Action Plan about Vermont's demographic pressures on our economy, and why it is so important to meet the housing needs of both our young Vermonters and new Vermont residents.

https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20General/Community%20Develo[...]pdf

Case in point, we heard from innovative housing builders who are cutting building times by manufacturing homes offsite in components that require less onsite assembly time; however, their employee shortage is limiting them to only half of their factory's full capacity.

Connected to growing our housing and supporting our working age population, VHFA reported on their success with two programs that help lower and middle-income Vermonters to become homeowners: Down Payment Assistance and First Generation Homebuyer Program. They are asking the committee to approve growing the program to help more Vermonters buy a home.

https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20General/Housing/Vermont%20[...]pdf

We also heard from developers who reported that infrastructure development costs can make it difficult to complete projects even when housing construction costs can be contained. One proposed solution for meeting housing infrastructure costs in our state came from the Let's Build Homes coalition, to establish project-based tax increment funding tools. HIT (Housing Infrastructure Initiative).

Finally, we delved into tenant-landlord dynamics. We heard from landlords who explained the challenges with problematic tenant behaviors, and the lengthy and costly process of eviction. We heard one possible response, H.42, a bill to shorten the process through creation of a Housing Board of Appeals. On tenant rights, we got an introduction for H.169, a bill to protect the privacy of Social Security Numbers of tenants, and to add protection from discrimination based on citizenship and immigration status into our Vermont Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act.

HGH is keen to dive into proposed solutions to grow our housing stock and our workforce.

Follow our committee livestream at:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/house-general-and-housing

Upcoming Community Conversations:
Sat. Feb 15 9am-10:30am The Nest
Sun. Mar 16 3pm-4:30pm Westford Common Hall
Sat. Apr 12 9am-10:30am Virtual (will share zoom link closer to date)
Sat. May 10 11am-12:30pm The Nest

Warmly,
Rep. Leonora Dodge
ldodge@leg.state.vt.us

Rep. Rey Garofano
rgarofano@leg.state.vt.us

Event Info

Feb 16, 2025, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Feb 18, 2025, 11:15 AM to 12:45 PM

Feb 22, 2025, 2 to 4 PM