The Valley Reporter checked in with Washington-7 representatives Kari Dolan (D-Waitsfield) and Dara Torre (D-Moretown) to get an update on the 2023 legislative session. Their responses have been condensed here. The full video can be found at www.valleyreporter.com.
VR: We want to talk about S.56, what's being referred to as the child care bill. Can you give a brief overview of the bill and where it currently stands?
Dolan: This bill just came over from the Senate and it now resides in our House Human Services Committee. They're looking at affordability. Right now, we have a system that relies on what's called a child care financial assistance program. Through this program, we provide subsidies that go directly to the [child care] center to help those that are at or near the poverty line to be able to afford child care.
The Senate version has, I think, 600% times the federal poverty level as their targeted subsidy for working families. That’s on a sliding scale, so those closest to the poverty level will have a greater subsidy. The intent is that would support expansion of the capacity of the number of spots at child care centers.
VR: Can you speak to the family leave portion of this and the cost?
Dolan: What the Senate has proposed to do is use the child tax credit, which was passed last year, that offers every family with a child under 5, a payment of I think it was around $1,000 per child. That made a tremendous benefit in terms of helping working families out of poverty. What the Senate proposes in S.56 is to do away with that program and repurpose those dollars to support the implementation of S.56. That too will be looked at on the House side. I understand they will be holding some public meetings in the next couple of weeks.
VR: Do you feel that this bill does enough for families, now that full pre-K for 4-year-olds has been removed from the bill and it would reimburse families for child care at a lower rate than was originally recommended?
Torre: I have some concerns about the repeal of the child tax credit because that's been really helpful for families. I like the expansion of the subsidies to include families that make up to $180,000 to get some sort of partial subsidy. I like the focus on compensation and training of the providers, which is key. But also, we have to bring up the compensation level of the earlier educators, because they're just so far below where they need to be.
HOME
VR: Senate Bill 100, Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone (HOME). This bill effectively bans single-family zoning, allows duplexes anywhere where there are currently only single-family homes by permit. Where there are municipal water and wastewater there are tri-, four-plexes allowed and municipalities would allow at least five units to be built per acre. Where do you stand on this bill?
Torre: There are some really good things in S.100. The investment in housing programs that we currently have that are working well, adding more to those, the local zoning reform. I have some concerns about our size towns and the more rural parts of Vermont. I think an important change would be to include the village center designations that right now aren't part of the discussion.
ACT 250 REFORM
VR: Should act 250 reform come first?
Torre: That's a tough one. There's a lot in here already that can make some major improvements. We do really have to think about how to help the smaller developers be able to launch projects. I don't know that Act 250 is the only barrier that they face. I know that a lot of things come from the appeals that happen that really slow down projects. From testimony that I heard, it's not so much about the permitting, as much as it is the appeals process holding them up.
Dolan: What this bill does, and why it's important is that some of that ‘missing middle’ [housing] is because of restrictions in zoning laws. We're not every year modifying state zoning laws, and the housing shortages recognize that part of the issue is we need to update those state municipal zoning laws, state land use laws. That will help to foster the type of development where we want to see the development. This is where we try to create the type of incentives for housing in our more downtown areas.
VR: Regarding having the state take over town reappraisals, what do local listers and elected leaders think about this?
Torre: I haven't heard from a lot of folks yet about this, because I think it's maybe a little premature. I think there's a study first.
Dolan: I did reach out to all our town clerks in our district asking their opinion, I didn't hear back from them. But I did hear at Town Meeting this year, there was a concern of the delay in reappraisals because it does have an impact on individuals, property values and the fairness issue surrounding them.
UNIVERSAL SCHOOL MEALS
VR: Regarding universal school meals, what will be the cost to come from the education fund as well as the local impact and education taxes?
Dolan: I think the cost is over $25 million a year. We had surplus funding to support it last year. What we've discovered is the overwhelming support in continuing with universal school meals. All students had showed a greater readiness for learning as [we] dealt with food insecurity of our young people. It ended up supporting local farmers and agriculture. It seemed to be a win-win-win across the board.
Torre: I understand that by continuing universal school meals, we actually have access to more federal funds. So, there's leveraging that happens, in addition to all the benefits Kari mentioned.
VR: And the affordable heat act?
Torre: It's in my committee [Committee on Environment and Energy]. We’ve taken some great testimony. The concern for lower income and moderate-income Vermonters is that they could end up not having the opportunities to make changes. We have seen the price volatility of fossil fuels; that's not expected to get any better. As more people electrify their heating, the cost of receiving fossil fuels in your home is going to go up. The idea behind the affordable heat act is to get out in front of that and prioritize the transition for lower-income families so that they don't end up with higher costs. A big area has been figuring out who has to pay for these credits. It's the importers of fossil fuels, the businesses that bring fuel across state lines into the state.
COMMITTEE WORK
VR: What have your committees been working on?
Dolan: ARPA funds. We're working closely with the administration and looking at where we are in expending those dollars. We're also looking at where we are with the pensions . . . And, of course, housing, where are we at thus far in the housing starts and investments we've made.
Torre: Affordable heat access is taking up our time, mostly. One of my hopes for the affordable heat act is that we can invest in our heating workforce as well . . . A working group [was] formed to look at trapping rules. We had witnesses from the Fish and Wildlife Department and some different wildlife organizations that visited us on Friday and learned about what the working groups had been doing to look at how trapping works in the state to address some concerns there.
