Wendy Harrison is one of Windham County's two state senators.
BRATTLEBORO-We're talking a lot about affordability in Vermont, and we should be.
As citizens of a small state, we can feel powerless with national and international forces controlling our health care, wealth distribution, housing markets, food systems, and security nets. My colleague Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, suggests that our goal should be prosperity, not just affordability, and I agree.
Affordability is about getting by, but Vermonters deserve more than just getting by. Prosperity results from planning and saving and investing in the future. Prosperity reduces anxiety and helps stabilize families.
We can make strides to improve Vermonters' prosperity, and it doesn't all require tax money.
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People are moving to Vermont. In 2023, more people moved to Vermont (26,743) than moved away (19,151), according to U.S. Census data. We were the third highest state in the country for proportion of people moving in versus moving out.
More New Hampshire residents (2,781) moved to Vermont than Vermont residents (1,890) moved to New Hampshire. We are affordable as compared to other New England and Northeast states. We offer a safer place to live and raise children.
But a lack of housing and child care have been obstacles to continued progress, discouraging even more people from moving to Vermont. Legislation passed in the 2023-24 biennium is already producing results for necessary housing and child care.
In 2023, the Legislature passed the HOME bill (Act 47), requiring specific local zoning regulations that encourage housing development. Examples are duplexes by right anywhere single-family homes are allowed, parking requirement maximums (versus minimums), and allowing at least five units per acre on property served by municipal water and sewer.
We included temporary Act 250 exemptions to spur new projects while we worked on the Act 250 modernization bill (Act 181) adopted in 2024. Act 181 changed Act 250 into a location-based development review process that will take another two years to fully implement.
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The overall impact will become clear in the years ahead. Already, developers are creating housing using Act 181 temporary exemptions in towns with Act 47 changes in place.
In 2024, the town of Brattleboro issued more permits for housing units than in any other year since 1989. These permits are for both market-rate and subsidized housing, and mostly at infill locations, so they do not produce sprawl. The town of Rockingham, which includes the village of Bellows Falls, is also seeing results from the legislation, particularly in zoning reforms.
Rural areas can increase housing by encouraging homeowners to take advantage of duplexes by right - which means that zoning must allow two-unit homes anywhere that single family homes are permitted. This is already in effect, even if towns have not officially updated their zoning.
This gives Vermonters the opportunity to increase the value of their home and achieve greater financial stability and prosperity. The unit could be a place for aging parents or adult children to live, or it can be rented to produce income.
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Second only to housing, the lack of quality child care is an obstacle to young families who want to stay in or move to Vermont. The 2023 child care bill (Act 76) addressed both the high cost for families and the traditionally low wages for child care providers with more subsidies to families and wage increases for workers. Act 76 has already created more than 1,000 new and more affordable child care spots.
Act 76 did require funding. We chose to use a payroll tax, not an income or property tax, so that the people who benefit are the same ones who pay the tax.
In the Economic Development Committee, employers said the cost to a business when employees can't work because they don't have child care is more than the cost of the new payroll tax. Employers must pay at least ¾ of the 0.44% payroll tax, and many are choosing to pay the employee portion as well.
For an annual salary of $50,000 (roughly the Vermont median), the total tax is $220 a year. The employee pays a maximum of $55 a year, or $1.05 per week. By funding both sides of the system, the new program is effectively helping young families stay in or move to Vermont and keeping child care providers out of poverty.
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Both housing and child care are critical components to build prosperity in Vermont. The recent legislation to address both issues benefits Vermonters and helps increase our population.
We need to apply this same type of thinking as we address other challenges, such as health care, treatment facilities, school financing, and community safety.
As we move forward, we should not be satisfied with temporary fixes and just getting by. Let's choose to aim for prosperity with well-considered, long-term, solid solutions. Vermonters deserve no less.
This Voices Legislative Update was submitted to The Commons.
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