H.157, contractor licensing–VETOED
You may recall that 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
H.483 provides $180,000 to examine funding structures in career technical education and make recommendations by next March 1. This bill has been added to H.703.
H.703 has passed the House 139-0 and was assigned to the Senate Economic Development Committee on March 30. They are beginning testimony on the bill. It provides money to modernize Career Technical Education; provide $1.5million to fund 12 week internships; and increase funding for the Dept of Labor to coordinate regional workforce development and work with employers better to attract eligible employees. The bill currently has $15million to fund a new CTE based construction and rehabilitation experiential learning program. Other key funding will go to providing training to CTE students in key ‘credentials’ in various industries (including the building trades). VSAC is receiving $3million for this program. Examples from our members which we will press for inclusion are certified building materials specialists and crane operators.
The movement of H.703 is very timely with the VRLDA partnering with VT Technical College on April 12th. Key legislators and members of the Governor’s cabinet will be in attendance and will be able to answer questions.