Issues Carried Over from 2021
H.157, Contractor Licensing
On January 27th 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. The Senate agreed with the House version of amendments on Thursday. It is expected that the Governor will sign this into law in time for the coming construction season.
Municipal Overweight Permitting
As part of a different bill this year, the following language is in H.673, just introduced this week: “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.” Not a bad start to this conversation. The bill was referred to House Transportation.
The Big 2022 Issue
Workforce Development
No one needs to tell our members that this is a critical issue to them—and the Governor agrees. In his budget address, Governor Scott made this an urgent matter for the state government. And while our members have collaborated with their local tech centers over the years, there is nothing system wide to increase the number of qualified employees that seek work in this industry. That may now be changing.
A key part of this is getting everyone–the Scott administration, tech center staff, guidance counselors, students, post-secondary students–to see this industry as a career path. The newly established Workforce Development Committee within VRLDA is doing its part, partnering with VT Technical College in Randolph this April for an event that brings students, educators, and parents to VTC to hear about career opportunities that include your businesses. This week we have also invited Legislators from the key committees of reference (Commerce, Economic Development, and Education) to attend. The new push from the Scott administration bodes well for not just this event but for Vermont.