A Legislative Session to Remember
The 2022 legislative session has officially come to a close and we’ve made great progress in building a more prosperous and resilient future for all Vermonters.
What an honor to represent you and advocate your priorities at the statehouse. Thanks to federal stimulus funds and surplus revenues, we made historic investments in the health, well-being and economic security of Vermont's families and small businesses, including:
BALANCED STATE BUDGET: We passed a record $8 billion budget, using federal stimulus funds and state surpluses, that makes transformational investments in housing, broadband, childcare, workforce development, climate change, and mental health services.
UNIVERSAL BROADBAND: Continuing toward our goal of providing affordable, high-speed internet to every household, we’ve dedicated $246M to building out the state’s broadband infrastructure, which will be supplemented by an additional $100+ million from the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act funds in the next year.
AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE: We are expanding the childcare subsidy for working families and providing retention bonuses, scholarships, loan repayment, and stronger support for early educators and childcare providers.
EXPANDING HOUSING: We've allocated $55M to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to build more homes. Another $22M will subsidize starter homes for middle-income families and manufactured housing. And $20M more will support the Vermont Housing Improvement Program, which offers grants to landlords for fixing code-violating rental properties.
CLIMATE INVESTMENTS: We’re investing $215M into climate initiatives — including $80M for weatherization, $45M for a municipal energy resilience program, $8M for advanced metering and over $60M for other electrification initiatives.
VERMONT STATE COLLEGES: The Vermont State Colleges System received a $10M increase to their base appropriation, as well as $15M in one-time cash to serve as a “bridge” in their ongoing transition to fiscal and operational stability.
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE: The Annual Transportation Bill invests $860M in infrastructure like paving, bridges, walking and biking paths, electric vehicle charging equipment and municipal and public transportation systems. It also funds programs to help low- and moderate-income Vermonter purchase efficient and electric cars.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: S.11 expands programs to increase workforce participation and sustain workers in nursing, mental health care, childcare and the trades. These programs offer scholarships, forgivable loans, education, training and internship programs. The bill supports Covid-related sick leave, economic development tax credits, sector-specific recovery assistance, and other economic development programs that serve businesses and municipalities.
STABLE PUBLIC PENSIONS: S.286, the public worker pension bill, contributes $200 million in one-time surplus revenues to our public pension while teachers and state employees will increase and restructure their contributions and accept a small adjustment to cost-of-living increases. In all, these changes will eliminate $2 billion of unfunded liability and ensure retirement security and healthcare certainty for retired teachers, state employees and troopers for years to come.
ACT 250 REFORM: S.234 modernizes Act 250 to better serve the needs of today’s businesses and communities by incentivizing priority housing projects, modernizing permit conditions and reducing fees for the forest products industry. It adds protections for forest blocks, updates the governance structure to make the process more consistent and timely, and requests a report recommending changes to accessory on-farm businesses regulations.
EDUCATION FUNDING: S.287 updates the school funding formula so that all schools have equitable access to taxing capacity and can provide what they need for all students to succeed.
REPRODUCTIVE LIBERTY: After a four-year, deliberate and inclusive legislative process, the House passed Proposal 5, the Reproductive Liberty Amendment. If ratified by the voters in November, Prop 5 will enshrine reproductive liberty into our state’s constitution, ensuring that these rights are preserved for future generations.
REDISTRICTING: Every ten years, after the U.S. Census is taken, Vermont must adjust legislative districts to accurately reflect any changes in population. Based on these recommendations from the Legislative Apportionment board and local communities, the legislature created new House and Senate district maps to provide equal representation for all Vermonters. The maps for the districts can be found here.
For more details on these bills and others, you can read my full report on the 2021-2022 biennium here.
Our work is far from done. The last two years offered us the rare challenge of strategically allocating a lot of money. As federal COVID relief dollars dry up, we will have to carefully prioritize scarcer dollars for the policies to create a Vermont that works for everyone.
Rural Vermonters deserve equitable access to education, homeownership, entrepreneurship and economic security. I will continue to advocate for the issues that matter to our community.
After a season in Montpelier, I look forward to getting back into our communities to reconnect with you and learn more about your priorities for the future.
It has been a true honor representing the people of Albany, Barton, Craftsbury, Greensboro, Glover, Sheffield, and Wheelock in the Vermont House of Representatives.
Thank you for all your support.
Sincerely, Rep. Katherine Sims