State Policy Update

April 6, 2026

Please find below updates on HHAV’s 2026 legislative priorities as well as announcements, events, federal updates and news. Be sure to check out our 2026 Advocacy page that includes all the testimony and memos submitted on behalf of our members.

Upcoming Events/Announcements

Please see our post from Friday April 3^rd about providing comments on updates to VT’s Qualified Action Plan (QAP).

Housing Opportunity Grant Program (HOP)
Please check back the week of April 13, 2026 for the HOP Notice of Funding Opportunity. This is an opportunity to apply for funds to grow shelter capacity and prevent a disruption in other services in State Fiscal Year 2027. Outside of shelter, this will be a renewal funding announcement only. The future of housing services in Vermont remains an active debate in the legislature and the State wants to minimize the changes that may have to occur after the legislative session ends in May or June. As there is clarity going into SFY27, and if there is funding available, the State plans to publish a new funding opportunity that aligns with a potentially new framework and ensures that new investments could be maintained.
Funding Opportunities For Partners | Department for Children and Families.

Expanding Investments in VT: April 7, 8:30am-1:30pm in White River Junction.
Presented by Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. Capital investment has never been more crucial to support housing and community development goals throughout New England. FHLBank Boston and their Advisory Council invite you to participate in this event. Details and registration here.

April is Fair Housing Month. Check out all the events throughout the month here, including “From Housing Justice to Civic Power: A Vermont Action Summit on April 25 in Burlington, exploring the intersection of housing justice and civic engagement in collaboration with Our Homes Our Votes. Details here.

Let’s Build Homes is hosting a moving screening of the documentary “Fault Lines: Inside America’s Housing Crisis. There are two screenings, April 8 at Main Street Landing in Burlington and April 14 at the Savoy in Montpelier. More information here.

State Policy Updates

H.951. FY27 State budget. The FY27 budget passed the house and is now being debated in the senate. Here is a helpful high-level summary of the budget as passed by the House. The budget bill includes several HHAV priorities:
- Affordable housing development funding. I will note that while the FY27 budget does include full statutory funding for VHCB through PTT ($37.65M), it does not include any additional one-time funding.
- $82.6M to support VT’s homelessness response system. This includes base funding for HOP, shelter operations and a new rental assistance program through VSHA, as well as one time for shelter development (see full list and update under H.938).
- $1M for VSHA rental arrears
- $800K for the Manufactured Housing Improvement Program (MHIR)
- $4M in base funding for the VT Housing Improvement Program.
- $1,680,529 for the Land Access & Opportunity Board (LAOB). Note that this is short in base funding by $104K and does not include any one-time funding, as requested.

H.938. Vermont Homelessness Response Continuum bill passed the house with nearly unanimous support. It codifies VT’s homelessness response programs/efforts into state statute and lays out a new “level” framework for preventing, reducing and addressing homelessness. The budget bill “appropriates” $82,634,153. H.938 then “expends” the amount for FY 27 including HOP, shelter expansion, new case management and municipal grants. The full list and breakdown of expenditures can be found on pages 36-38 of the bill. The bill is now in Senate Health and Welfare and testimony is expected to begin April 8. We do have an action committee that is continuing to meet and working to make numerous improvements to the bill.

H.772. Act changing residential rental agreements and eviction timelines and processes. This bill proposes numerous changes to residential rental agreements and timelines for notice of evictions, trespassing, court proceedings and removal of property with an overarching goal of speeding up the eviction process in a number of circumstances including for activities threatening tenant health and safety. The bill is now officially in Senate Judiciary and is also being worked on in Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs. HHAV has not taken a position on this bill. There are a couple of provisions that will help our housing members address tenant safety in their buildings and provides some additional protections to tenants. We are concerned with the implications of speeding up eviction and termination processes, impacting due process and potentially exacerbating homelessness. We are also concerned with how this bill interacts with H.938 and the state budget, both of which do not adequately fund affordable housing production and homelessness response supports, potentially making homelessness worse over the next several years. We do have an action committee that is continuing to meet and work on this impactful bill.
- Here is a brief summary pulled together by our lobbying team (we expect legislative council to post a summary soon)
- Here is a spreadsheet detailing the major processes and timeline changes proposed in the bill.

S.328. Senate housing bill. This bill proposed several changes to housing policy and programs including identifying barriers to municipalities meeting their housing targets, proposing raising the percentage of Vermont’s cash balance that can be used for loans to housing from 10% to 12.5%, adds two positions to the Dept of Housing & Community Development, a report looking at changes to VT’s Common Interest Communities law (HOAs and Condo Associations), changes the statute to the VT Economic Development Authority (VEDA) allowing them to financing multi-unit housing developments in consultation with VHFA. It also creates a service-supported housing advisory council (focused on housing and services needed for people who receive Medicaid-funded developmental disability services). The bill also updates local zoning policy, seeks an update to the 2021 farmworker housing report and updates the designation of downtown and village centers. I will note that all of the programs/proposals that had appropriations/tax expenditures in were stripped out in Senate appropriations (which is customary) and will be considered as part of the budget. The house is looking to put back several of those provisions, including DPA.

H.933. Miscellaneous tax bill. This is a large, complex bill that serves as the annual link up between federal and state tax policy and makes numerous changes to VT tax code and policy. During the last days in the house, it became a lighting rod for tax relief and revenue raising. This bill includes the Downpayment Assistance (DPA) expansion and extension to support low/moderate income Vermonters buying a home through a 0% downpayment/closing cost loan.

S.325. Proposed changes and extensions to Act 181, passed in 2024, that updates Act 250, Vermont’s comprehensive land use law. Act 181 made numerous changes to Act 250, including the creation of a tiered land use mapping system and temporary exemptions to Act 250 for housing development in certain areas. S.325 would move those interim exemptions to 2030, delaying the road rule until 2030, and delaying the implementation of tier 3 until July 2028. The bill also extends the Priority Housing Project (PHP) provision to January 1, 2028 and adds eligible areas for housing development in areas mapped Tier 1B. HHAV is also working to include language supporting the easing of Act 250 regulations on Manufactured Housing Communities (MHCs). This bill has garnered a lot of attention, especially from the Rural Caucus (legislators representing rural communities) and from people across the state concerned with how this bill (especially Tier 3 and the Road Rule) will impact the ability for people to affordably create housing and economic opportunities in rural communities.
- Let’s Build Homes (broad coalition supporting pro-housing policies) most recent blog post about provisions in S.325 here (HHAV is a member of LBH)
- Land Access & Opportunity Board has been actively engaged in this and advocating for more opportunities to hear from rural and marginalized communities across the state.
- State of Vermont’s Act 181 page
- VT Natural Resources Council (VNRC) materials on S.325 and background on Act 181. They have also been releasing updates and information weekly through social media/email updates/website.

Addressing impact of 3-acre impact fees on MHCs. These impact fees are jeopardizing ARPA-funded infrastructure projects and would add prohibitively high costs to these projects, with limited options but placing the financing burden on these communities. No bill has been identified yet, but we are working on both the senate and house sides as well as leadership with Dept of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to find a solution. Please see the memos we have submitted on behalf of membership under the “Manufactured Housing Communities” section.

H.775. Financing of community infrastructure and housing opportunities in rural communities. This bill creates a number of municipal bonding and financing options and a special housing fund through the VT Treasurer’s office. It also creates an off-site construction accelerator pilot to explore pulk purchasing and off-site construction options for housing. I will note it contains a couple of the same provisions as S.328 does (municipal barriers to meeting housing targets and VEDA statute change). There is talk about merging S.328 and H.775 at some point to make one-large housing omnibus bill (as has been done over the past several years).

Fair Share Vermont. HHAV officially joined the campaign and will be participating in the coordinating committee efforts moving forward. As we continue to see, we need to raise state revenue in order to pay for the many services, supports and initiatives VT needs. One project we have been invited to participate in is to identify wealthy VTers who support raising revenue on the wealthiest households in the state.

Federal Update

Look for a separate email/post with numerous federal regulatory and policy updates and calls to action coming later this week.

Update on US Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process. Read here.

21^st Century ROAD to Housing bill. Here again is a summary provided by Andrew from Senator Sanders’s office. The senate passed the bill but has stalled in the house. It may go to conference committee, but there are wide differences between the house and senate versions of the bill.

Impacts of Build America Buy America (BABA) on housing construction. National and regional partners such as New England Housing Network (NEHN) are working with lawmakers to get an exemption from BABA (see news story below). NEHN members meeting with staff from Office of Management & Budget (OMB) regarding the impacts of BABA on housing development.

FY27 federal budget proposal will be released soon. Advocates are largely expecting the proposed budget to be extremely bad for housing and homelessness. Advocates are also encouraging people to look beyond the proposal and instead focus on identifying the needs of communities and states to elevate as the budget process works its way through congress

State News on Housing & Homelessness

Advocates (including HHAV) call attention to the lifting of adverse weather conditions on April 1, meaning many people will lose access to shelter and more will over the coming months. WCAX story here.

“Former tow truck driver, who needs oxygen concentrator to breathe, faces eviction from motel program.” VT Public story here

Property taxes and land use reform take center stage as the legislature hits crossover. Story here.

Impacts of BABA (see above) are causing housing construction increases and delays, including in VT. Story here.

Federal bill introduced by Senator Welch would expand homeownership access through farm credit institutions. Story here.