House opening: Speaker frames session around housing, child care and climate resiliency

The House of Representatives convened in Montpelier with the presiding officer urging urgent action on housing, child care and climate resilience as the session resumed.

Madam Speaker welcomed members back and said Vermonters expect the legislature to "find solutions to the challenges that impact our daily lives." She pointed to last session's tripartisan child-care bill and said it was already increasing affordability and provider wages. "We are already seeing the impacts with a more affordable child care for working families, better wages for child care providers, and access to high quality care and education," she said.

The speaker described a continuing housing crisis affecting renters, first-time buyers and people exiting homelessness and noted that the state "has allocated over $1,000,000,000 to housing projects, programs, and services," urging lawmakers to sustain momentum and remove barriers to development while protecting Vermont's landscape.

On workforce and education, she highlighted apprenticeship and training programs and said participation in nursing, education and trade apprenticeships is at record levels. On climate, she cited multiple catastrophic floods this year that "forced families from their homes, destroyed businesses, and left in its wake over $1,000,000,000 in losses," and urged lawmakers to enact policies that build resiliency statewide.

The presiding officer closed by calling for accountability as significant federal aid ends and urging the chamber to "hunker down, and let's get to work." The House then moved to opening orders and committee referrals for newly introduced legislation.

The speaker's remarks were delivered at the start of the day's session during the House's opening proceedings. No formal votes on the policies discussed were taken at this meeting.