H.157, Contractor Licensing–VETOED
On January 27, the Legislature passed H.157 with a registration trigger for any residential job that reaches $3500 in labor and materials. The bill also requires liability insurance and a written contract. In an unanticipated move, on February 10th Governor Scott vetoed the bill because he thought it had “the potential to undermine and weaken a large number of Vermont’s small businesses – small, local residential contractors – at a time when we all agree we must prioritize new and revitalized housing.” A veto over-ride vote is not scheduled until April 20th, so while the issue is not dead, it will have to wait a while.
Municipal Overweight Permitting
As you may recall, H.673 would “require that the centralized online permitting system be operational, including providing access to municipally issued weight and length permits, not later than January 1, 2023.” The bill was referred to House Transportation on January 18th, but the Committee has not taken up the bill. Unless it is placed in some other bill, this issue is dead for the year.
Workforce Development
The VRLDA Legislative Committee met with the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee on February 24th to discuss concerns and possible collaboration with the Legislators to increase the number of young Vermonters who go into the building trades.
Key bills to address this matter this year are:
H.483 provides $180,000 to examine funding structures in career technical education and make recommendations by next March 1. It has been voted out of House Commerce and is in Appropriations.
H.703 is currently being worked on by House Commerce. As originally drafted it provides $35 million to modernize Career Technical Education; funding for the Dept of Labor to coordinate regional workforce development and work with employers better to attract eligible employees; and $2 million funding for Agency of Commerce grants to priority sectors such as construction and supply chains. This bill will likely get a substantial amendment in Commerce, but is expected to move forward this year.