Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint, Senate Majority Leader Alison Clarkson, and Senate Economic Development Chair Michael Sirotkin issued the following statements regarding the Governor’s veto of S.79:
“With the nation focused on building health and safety, it was extremely disheartening and surprising to see S. 79 vetoed,” said Sen. Michael Sirotkin. “As the lead sponsor and committee chair on this bill, I can attest that we took three years of testimony and evidence in refining this bill and had overwhelmingly broad support, including from landlords and tenants, the business community, and municipal governments. We did not hear from a single witness in opposition, including the Administration.”
“With his veto message, the Governor is establishing a false choice between affordability and health and safety. Vermont renters know we need to deliver on both,” said Majority Leader Alison Clarkson. “As even the Governor recognizes, our inspection program for substandard housing is in need of modernization. The current system – relying on part-time, undertrained, volunteer town health officers -- is inefficient and often ineffective. This is a huge missed opportunity and a real loss for the health and safety of our most vulnerable citizens.”
“It’s imperative that Vermonters who don’t own their own homes are able to rent safe, clean apartments. Our constituents want and deserve decent homes for themselves and their families,” said Pro Tem Becca Balint. “Poor housing quality often leads to serious health problems, especially for children. This critical bill provided a long overdue complaint-driven system for protecting our constituents from substandard rental housing conditions. This alone was reason enough to support the bill. But it also included other important programs to address our statewide housing crisis, including the Vermont Rental Housing Investment Program, which would help renovate existing rental properties and the Homeownership Revolving Loan Fund, which would finally make homeownership a reality for many Vermonters. I’m extremely disappointed with the Governor’s actions today, at a time when we should be doing everything possible to guarantee access to decent housing for all Vermonters. The governor’s veto just doesn’t make sense.”
MONTPELIER, VT – 7.2.2021