Vermont H 826: An act relating to land access and opportunity

Bill Text

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H.826 1
Introduced by Representatives Cina of Burlington, Carris Duncan of 2
Whitingham, Bos-Lun of Westminster, Burrows of West 3
Windsor, Cole of Hartford, LaMont of Morristown, Logan of 4
Burlington, McGill of Bridport, Pouech of Hinesburg, and 5
Tomlinson of Winooski 6
Referred to Committee on 7
Date: 8
Subject: Conservation and development; Land Access and Opportunity Board; 9
special fund 10
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to create the 11
Land Access and Opportunity Fund to be administered by the Land Access and 12
Opportunity Board. The bill also proposes to require an affordable housing tax 13
report from the Department of Taxes and to create the Land Security Working 14
Group. 15
An act relating to land access and opportunity 16
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 17
Sec. 1. INTENT 18
It is the intent of the Vermont General Assembly to support the human right 19
to housing and to promote public health and community safety by preserving 20

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affordable housing and creating new social and economic opportunities for the 1
development and maintenance of sustainable, resilient, and affordable housing 2
infrastructure. It is the intent of this act to focus State, municipal, and private 3
resources on ensuring that Vermonters have an adequate supply of safe, secure 4
housing, including more opportunities for access to and ownership of land and 5
community resources. 6
Sec. 2. FINDINGS 7
The General Assembly finds that: 8
(1) According to the Vermont Department of Health’s 2025 Vermont 9
State Health Improvement Plan 2025–2030, a five-year roadmap for ensuring 10
that all people and communities in Vermont have fair and sustainable access to 11
opportunities for health and well-being, “a comprehensive and coordinated 12
approach to programs, policies, and resources to increase affordable, 13
accessible, and safe housing is vital.” The first goal of the plan is to improve 14
the availability of affordable, accessible, and safe housing. 15
(2) The report’s findings show that Vermont’s statewide housing crisis 16
is deepening, and housing costs are stretching Vermonters’ budgets thin. The 17
report estimates that the pace of home building will need to increase to create 18
the 24,000–36,000 additional year-round homes needed in 2025–2029 to meet 19
demand, normalize vacancy rates, house the homeless, and replace homes lost 20
from the stock through flooding and other causes. 21

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(3) The Cannabis Control Board’s 2025 Cannabis Control Board 1
Report: Proposal for Fees and Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2027 2
recommends community reinvestment through the Land Access and 3
Opportunity Board (LAOB). The report states that “it is well established that 4
stable housing is a cornerstone of healthy, safe and prosperous communities. 5
Investments in housing access and community reinvestment are thus both 6
economic and preventive public health measures. Investing in community-7
leadership is an effective policy strategy for enduring benefits such as targeted 8
housing solutions, civic participation, community buy in, and wealth building.” 9
(4) The Cannabis Control Board’s 2025 Report to the General Assembly 10
Pursuant to 7 V.S.A. § 989 recommended allocating a portion of the cannabis 11
excise tax to the LAOB for community reinvestment in the following 12
initiatives: 13
(A) down payment assistance grants to support homeownership and 14
land access for disadvantaged Vermonters, such as: 15
(i) work in partnership to expand and complement existing down 16
payment assistance programs; and 17
(ii) development of Vermont’s first down payment assistance 18
grant to support farmland access for disadvantaged communities; 19
(B) financing and technical advising support for BIPOC and other 20
emerging developers; 21

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(C) seed and implementation grants for community-led affordable 1
housing and community development projects, including land trusts and land 2
banks; and 3
(D) strengthening community leadership of disadvantaged 4
communities through advisory powers and community engagement, such as: 5
(i) allocating resources to strengthen and sustain community-led 6
initiatives; 7
(ii) supporting underrepresented community members’ 8
participation in public policy processes with stipends, child care, travel costs, 9
and language access; and 10
(iii) advising regarding public policies and programming on how 11
to dismantle ongoing barriers that prevent the participation and benefit of 12
disadvantaged communities. 13
(5) 2025 Acts and Resolves No. 69, Sec. 5 required the State Housing 14
and Residential Services Planning Committee to “create an actionable plan to 15
develop housing for individuals with developmental d