Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Senate voted to override the Governor Scott’s vetoes of Winooski and Montpelier charter changes (H227 and H177) by identical votes of 20-10. They also passed S79, an act relating to improving rental housing health and safety. The House on Wednesday also overrode the two charter change vetoes. Action on the S79 housing bill was expected during this veto session.
House overrides Scott's vetoes of charter change bills
Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint issued the following statement following today’s veto session:
"Voters in Montpelier and Winooski came out in favor of legal resident non-citizen voting, and the legislature, after rigorous debate and deliberation, supported their ability to regulate their own local elections in this way. Today, the Senate affirmed that decision. Today’s veto override votes continue Vermont’s track record supporting strong citizen engagement, and uphold the tradition of local control in our towns and cities.
"We also used this opportunity to make sure we don’t lose any more time in ensuring healthy and safe rental housing in our state. We know we have a problem. Comprehensive studies have found that most Vermont towns are ill equipped to have volunteers inspect and enforce rental housing health and safety codes; and thousands of our older housing stock is or is in danger of becoming unsafe and uninhabitable. This bill provides a solution to that problem, and has broad support from towns, the business community, and advocates for both landlords and affordable housing. We were sent here to represent our constituents. It’s long past time that we put this system in place to protect our constituents from substandard rental housing conditions.”
Source: 6.24.2021. MONTPELIER, VT – President Pro Tem