Commerce and Economic Development Committee

The House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development considers matters relating to workforce development and training programs, business development and formations, financial institutions, property and casualty, life, and captive insurance, securities, unemployment and workers’ compensation insurance, consumer protection, and other similar policies.

The 2025 economic development and workforce bill (S.122/Act 65), signed by the Governor in June 2025, allocated already-appropriated monies to various entities to promote economic development in the State. It created a task force to study the feasibility of constructing a convention center and performance venue in the State. This act also created the Vermont-Ireland Trade Commission, which works to advance bilateral trade and investment between Vermont and Ireland. This act amends 10 V.S.A. § 540, which sets forth the leadership and responsibilities of workforce education, employment, and training in the State. These amendments were made to account for the creation of the Office of Workforce Strategy and Development.

The 2026 economic development bill (S.327/Act 128) lays out three studies, including a business resources and growth inventory to be conducted by the Commissioner of Economic Development. This study will help clarify the economic and technical assistance opportunities available for Vermont businesses at every stage of growth. The bill includes the establishment of a Culinary and Hospitality Apprenticeship Pilot Program under the Department of Labor to create more opportunity for Vermonters to develop a career in the hospitality and culinary fields. Additionally, the bill proposes a study on the establishment of post-secondary educational opportunities in the culinary and hospitality industries. The bill makes changes to the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) Program - a narrow business-development program administered by Vermont Economic Progress Council (VEPC) - by adjusting the annual cap for the program and repealing the January 2027 VEGI sunset. The bill expands the eligibility of the Rural Industry Development Grant Program (RIDP) to include federally-affected properties, and reduces required upfront costs from 80% to 50%. The bill creates guidelines for rounding during cash transactions in response to the discontinuation of the penny. Finally, the bill introduces the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program, allowing a municipality to enter into an agreement with landowners to impose a special assessment to secure private financing for property owners of commercial/industrial buildings for renewable energy projects. The bill signed into law by the Governor on 8 June 2026. 

H.243/Act 10 (An act relating to the regulation of business organizations), makes technical changes and adds new sections giving the Secretary of State authority to reject a business filing it believes is fraudulent. The act clarifies the requirements for a business to designate an agent for service of process and requires the Secretary of State to conduct a study addressing issues related to the business filing system and exploring potential statutory revisions, including fee adjustments for business filings. A final report is due on or before 1 December 2026. The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 1 May 2025. 

In 2024, the legislature established the Sister State Working Group to better understand how a sister state program could increase economic, trade, educational, and cultural relationships with like-minded communities around the world. H.674 (An act relating to the creation of the Vermont Sister State Program) was based on the working group’s recommendations from their December 2025 report. The program, which would have been run by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD), established a process by which ACCD could vet and approve potential applicants in consultation with the Sister State Program Committee. The Governor was to have final approval of the applicants. Local events and community engagement would have been hosted through Vermont-based partner businesses and organizations who would sponsor the prospective country’s application. The bill required no appropriation. This bill was vetoed by the Governor on 18 May 2026.

S.117/Act 40 (An act relating to wage and hour, unemployment compensation, and workers' compensation) makes technical corrections to the unemployment insurance program and worker’s compensation in Vermont. These changes include adjusting the annual calculation of the minimum wage and strengthening the penalties for the willful withholding of wages by an employer. The act also removes the authority of the Commissioner of Labor to recommend a subminimum wage for individuals with disabilities, learners, and apprentices. This act updates deadlines for the implementation of a modernized information technology system for the unemployment insurance program. It allows workers’ compensation claimants to request medical case management services and, for claimants who do not speak English fluently, to receive translation services. It provides enhanced penalties for the late payment of weekly benefits to workers’ compensation claimants, requires employers to report late payments to the Department of Labor, and for the Department to compile the data and submit a written report to the General Assembly by 15 January 2027. The bill signed into law by the Governor on 28 May 2025.

H.398/Act 26 (An act relating to the Vermont Economic Development Authority) makes numerous technical and substantive amendments to the statutes governing the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA or Authority), including creating the Disaster Recovery Loan Fund. The Fund provides loans and other forms of financial assistance to businesses, including agricultural and forest products businesses, following a disaster event, providing Vermont businesses with quick relief post-disaster. The act modernizes the Authority by allowing electronic signatures for bonds, ensuring that Authority staff are not personally liable for bonds or contracts entered into by the Authority unless the staff member engaged in intentional misconduct, and expands the Authority’s powers to engage in secured loans. The act also statutorily defines the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Strategy, which authorizes VEDA to fund projects that support the creation and sustainable growth of Vermont’s economy. The bill signed into law by the Governor on 21 May 2025.

S.69/Act 65 (An act relating to an age-appropriate design code) creates the Vermont age-appropriate design code, which requires businesses to protect minors from certain harms when processing their data. The act requires businesses to have the default privacy setting of its digital products set to the highest level of privacy when used by a minor. The act prohibits the collection or sharing of a minor’s personal data unless necessary to provide a service to the minor. It also restricts the ability of a covered business to permit an individual to monitor the activity or location of a minor on its digital product without providing a conspicuous signal to the minor. Finally, the Attorney General is granted rule making authority to further define what design practices might lead to compulsive use of a digital product and to provide covered businesses with privacy-minded methods to estimate the age of its users.The bill signed into law by the Governor on 12 June 2025.

H.385/Act 106 (An act relating to remedies and protections for victims of coerced debt) prohibits coerced debt and provides protections and remedies for victims of coerced debt. Coerced debt is secured or unsecured debt incurred due to deception, fraud, or manipulation of the debtor. This type of debt is different from identity theft in that the debt is in the victim's name, which can make it difficult to hold the perpetrator accountable. The act allows Vermont banks to place holds on potentially coercive transactions to ensure their customers do not get scammed into giving away their money. The act also offers a path for victims of coerced debt to pursue a remedy. The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 20 May 2026.  

H.512/Act 109 (An act relating to the regulation of the event ticketing market) enhances consumer protection in the event-ticketing market. The bill regulates the resale of tickets through improved transparency and the prevention of predatory and deceptive practices. It requires entities that resell or facilitate the resale of tickets to clearly identify that they are a reselling site. It prohibits these entities from using deceptive advertising practices. It also caps the price of a ticket being resold to 10% above the original ticket price including taxes and fees. Finally the bill limits the sale of speculative tickets. These practices have endangered the viability and credibility of Vermont-based businesses and cost Vermonters money and time. The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 26 May 2026.  

S.313/Act 177 (An act relating to transforming Vermont’s career technical education system) sets the intention to create an integrated CTE system in Vermont that supports the state’s workforce needs by providing hands-on learning to middle and high school students as well as adult learners. This work is contingent on the ongoing K-12 transformation. The committee is proposing a working group to implement improvements by updating State Board of Education rules and procedures, better aligning CTE delivery while preparing for the future state.The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 18 June 2026.