Vermont S 226: An act relating to expanding access to safe and affordable housing

Bill Text

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VT LEG #385578 v.1
S.226 1
Introduced by Senators Clarkson and Hardy 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Executive; Agency of Commerce and Community Development; 5
Sister State Program 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to create the 7
Vermont Sister State Program to be overseen by the Sister State Program 8
Committee. The Committee, with the assistance of the Agency of Commerce 9
and Community Development, will review applications and recommend to the 10
Governor whether an official sister state relationship should be formalized. 11
An act relating to the creation of the Vermont Sister State Program 12
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 13
Sec. 1. 3 V.S.A. § 2479 is added to read: 14
§ 2479. VERMONT SISTER STATE PROGRAM 15
(a) Creation and purpose. 16
(1) The Vermont Sister State Program is created within the Agency of 17
Commerce and Community Development. The Agency shall provide support 18
to the Program and to the Sister State Program Committee as required. 19

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(2) The purpose of the Program is to strengthen Vermont’s international 1
engagement and to foster mutually beneficial relationships with subnational 2
governments abroad, with a goal of promoting cultural exchange, economic 3
development, educational cooperation, and diplomatic collaboration. 4
(b) Program oversight. 5
(1) The Sister State Program Committee, composed of the following 6
members, shall oversee the Program: 7
(A) the Secretary of Commerce and Community Development or 8
designee; 9
(B) a member of the House of Representatives, appointed by the 10
Speaker of the House; 11
(C) a member of the Senate, appointed by the Committee on 12
Committees; 13
(D) the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Council on 14
World Affairs or designee; 15
(E) the Vermont Adjutant General or designee; 16
(F) the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Arts Council 17
or designee; and 18
(G) three members, as follows: 19
(i) one member with expertise in cultural exchange or in Peace 20
Corps operations, appointed by the Governor; 21

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(ii) one member representing a private institution of higher 1
education, appointed by the Committee on Committees; and 2
(iii) one member representing a public institution of higher 3
education, appointed by the Speaker of the House. 4
(2) Members of the Committee shall serve two-year terms, provided that 5
members appointed pursuant to subdivision (1)(G) of this subsection shall 6
serve initial terms of three years each to establish staggered terms. Members 7
may be reappointed. 8
(3) The Committee shall elect a chair and vice chair from among its 9
members that shall each serve a two-year term. 10
(4) A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum. 11
(c) Meetings. 12
(1) All meetings shall be called by the Chair, but in the event that the 13
Committee does not have a chair, a meeting may be called by the Secretary of 14
Commerce and Community Development or designee. 15
(2) The Committee shall meet: 16
(A) at least once quarterly, for the purpose of: 17
(i) evaluating current Sister State Program agreements; 18
(ii) proposing new Sister State Program agreements; 19

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(iii) preparing its annual report; or 1
(iv) discussing any other matter that the Committee deems 2
relevant to its work; and 3
(B) to review and score an eligible Sister State Program application 4
not later than 30 days after the Committee receives the application from the 5
Agency, pursuant to subdivision (d)(3) of this section. 6
(d) Program application, review, and approval procedures. 7
(1) Development of application process. The Committee, in 8
consultation with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, 9
shall develop a process by which an entity can apply and be considered for 10
admission as a partner to the Sister State Program. This process shall include 11
the development of: 12
(A) an official application to be in the Program; 13
(B) a confidential internal review procedure to be used by the 14
Agency to review Program applicants for sensitive political, legal, ethical, and 15
strategic factors; 16
(C) minimum eligibility requirements to be considered for the 17
Program; 18
(D) a fixed-scoring system, including a rubric, to be uniformly 19
applied by the Committee to evaluate all eligible applications; and 20

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(E) a memorandum of understanding template to be used and signed 1
by the State and an approved Sister State Program partner. 2
(2) Agency initial verification. 3
(A) When a Sister State Program application has been received by 4
the Agency pursuant to this section, the Agency shall, before the Committee 5
may meet to review the application: 6
(i) veri