Joshua -

We’re now in the 3rd week of the 2024 Legislative Session and we are continually working to improve the lives of everyday Vermonters through the work of our House, Senate, and Statewide elected officials. This week's legislative update is focused on Housing.

Legislative Update

Last Tuesday the Progressive House Caucus focused their public caucus on housing issues. We know that Vermont is facing a housing emergency. Our current housing vacancy rate is 3.5% for rental units and just 0.7% for owner occupied homes. This is far below the national standard of 5% for a healthy vacancy rate.

This tight market has dramatically increased housing costs. The median cost of a home has risen from $215,000 in 2018 to $315,000 in 2023 - $100,000 in just 5 years. These trends are putting the dream of home ownership - or a decent rental - out of reach for far too many Vermonters.

With the shortage of workers available to fill critical occupations throughout the state, more migrant workers are relocating to the state to accept those positions, especially in the construction sector. This contributes to our housing emergency when migrant workers struggle to find housing due to immigration status and the gap between low wages and rent. As a result, some employers are now renting apartments for groups of migrant workers, raising troubling dynamics from employer-controlled housing and the resulting livability concerns with larger numbers of people living in small apartments. These are similar trends we have seen on Vermont farms with migrant farmworkers.

With our tight and expensive housing market, it should come as no surprise that Vermont now has the 2nd highest rate of homelessness in the Nation.

Meanwhile, the people who can afford to purchase a home in Vermont tend to already have one somewhere else. It is estimated that 17% of housing units in Vermont are 2nd, 3rd, or 4th homes - the 2nd highest rate in the Nation. The fact that Vermont is ranked 2nd in the Nation for houselessness AND 2nd in the Nation for vacation homes is a massive failure of public policy.

Policy solutions are possible. The House Progressive Caucus is working with housing advocates to reverse these trends and build a future where housing is recognized as a right for all people.

Here are a few issues and pieces of legislation that can move us in that direction this year:

A resolution declaring that the current level of homelessness and lack of affordable housing is a public health emergency and committing to accelerating the timeline for guaranteeing the accessibility and affordability of basic and safe housing for every Vermonter.
H.616 would create an eviction moratorium for “no cause” evictions, essentially implementing the “just cause evictions” policy that many Vermont towns are working to pass at the local level.
H.617 would expand the definition of an “application fee” - something already banned in Vermont - to include “management fees and fees charged for any inquiry into, or history or report on, a prospective tenant’s background, credit, income, criminal activity, past evictions, rent payments, tenancy, or employment.”
Act 47 - (the HOME Bill) became law in 2023 with the goal of creating more housing opportunities for people of all incomes. Aspects of Act 47 dealing with eviction diversion and pilot programs for renter representation in legal cases are yet to be fully funded though. Fully funding these programs is a core priority.
Migrant Justice is advocating for additional protections for immigrants by preventing landlords from requesting social security numbers as a rental application requirement.

H.629 would allow towns to forgive taxes owed by people who are unable to pay and may be at risk of losing their home due to tax debt.

You can learn more by watching the recording of our public caucus where we heard from:

Jess Hyman, Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity
Rossy Alfaro and Will Lambert, Migrant Justice
Rebecca Plummer, Vermont Legal Aid

watch the caucus

An update from Lt. Governor David Zuckerman

Lt. Governor David Zuckerman is the highest ranking Progressive in Vermont and puts out a regular newsletter to keep Vermonters up to date on the issues coming before the legislature. David’s last newsletter focused on overdose prevention centers, Fair Share for Vermont, fighting hate, and expanded bottle redemption. You can read his news letter here.