Vermont has one of the highest rates of unhoused people in the country. As we learned from the most recent (2023) Point in Time count, Vermont had the 2nd highest rate of unhoused people per capita in the country. And, Vermont’s crisis is getting worse – with an 18.5 percent increase in unhoused people between 2022 and 2023 and a 218.4 percent increase in unhoused people between 2007 and 2023. And, because of our country’s long history of racist and exploitative laws and policies, many of which continue today, Black Vermonters are unhoused at a staggering rate compared to white Vermonters. Black people represent just 1.4 percent of Vermont’s population, yet account for over 8 percent of Vermont’s unhoused population.
Vermont’s housing and homelessness crisis is the result of multiple factors, including a lack of sufficient permanently affordable housing units, skyrocketing housing and constructions costs, more people moving to Vermont, increasing short term rentals, a failure to ensure a living wage, a failure to provide adequate mental health and substance use services (and continuing to criminalize and stigmatize people who use drugs), and more.
To solve this crisis, Vermont must:
Commit to sustained, long-term revenue generation and investments in housing, services and supports, and shelter
- Bill: H.829
- Bill Summary: H.829 would create new revenue and direct that revenue to housing programs, housing services and supports, and shelter operations and creation. H.829 would set Vermont on a ten-year path to address the housing crisis and move Vermonters out of homelessness.
- HHAV Position: Support
- Why We Support:
- This legislation creates the sustained long-term investments necessary for Vermont to fully address its housing and homelessness crisis.
- H.829 creates a tax break for low- and middle-income Vermont homebuyers.
- The vast majority of Vermont homebuyers would enjoy the transfer tax break.
- H.829 strengthens housing access for people with disabilities.
- Bill Status: Passed the House and failed to pass the Senate.
- Learn More: HHAV Fact Sheet
- Bill: H.883
- Bill Summary: H.883 is the FY 25 Vermont state budget.
- HHAV Position: Support for specific provisions (see HHAV fact sheet below).
- Why We Support:
- Vermont has a major need for Emergency Shelter.
- The human and economic costs of failing to provide shelter are greater than the costs of shelter.
- Black Vermonters are unhoused at a staggering rate.
- Vermont’s housing and homelessness crises will take sustained long-term investments to fully solve.
- Bill Status: Passed the House and Senate and signed by the Governor.
- Learn More: HHAV Fact Sheet
Ensuring Emergency Shelter for Vermonters in Need if a Moral and Fiscal Imperative
- Bill: H.879
- Bill Summary: H.879 would create an Emergency Temporary Shelter Program with the intent that “unsheltered homelessness be eliminated in Vermont and interim shelter opportunities be available to provide a stable pathway to permanent housing for all Vermonters experiencing homelessness.”
- HHAV Position: Support
- Why We Support:
- Vermont has a major need for Emergency Shelter.
- The state does not have an adequate plan to ensure shelter for those in need.
- The human and economic costs of failing to provide shelter are greater than the costs of shelter.
- Couch surfing (temporary stays with friends or relatives) does not constitute “self-resolving” for people experiencing homelessness.
- Black Vermonters are unhoused at a staggering rate.
- Vermont’s housing and homelessness crises will take sustained long-term investments to fully solve.
- Bill Status: Passed the House and failed to pass the Senate (parts of this were incorporated into H.833)
- Learn More: HHAV Fact Sheet
Support Targeted Regulatory Reform
- Bill: H.687
- Bill Summary: H.687 create adjustments to Vermont’s regulatory framework and raises new revenue to support our state’s critical housing needs.
- HHAV Position: Qualified Support (See Fact Sheet, below, for specific HHAV positions)
- HHAV supports the following improvements in Vermont’s regulatory framework and spending:
- Targeted Exemptions to Act 250
- Streamline the Appeals Process Without Undermining its Integrity.
- Study Ways to Strengthen Incentives for Constructing Affordable Housing.
- This legislation creates the sustained long-term investments necessary for Vermont to fully address its housing and homelessness crisis.
- Raises new revenue to support our state’s critical housing needs.
- Creates a tax break for low- and middle-income Vermont homebuyers.
- Bill Status: Passed the House and Senate, Vetoed by Governor, and Veto of Governor Overridden
- Learn More: HHAV Fact Sheet
Expand Vermont’s overdose prevention strategy
- Bill: H.72
- Bill Summary: H.72 would authorize overdose prevention centers (OPCs), which are an evidence-based harm reduction strategy that allow people to use drugs in a hygienic environment under the supervision of trained staff who can intervene if an individual overdoses, provide sterile consumption equipment, and provide medical advice and referrals to drug treatment and other community social services. There are nearly 200 OPCs operating in 14 countries around the world, including in the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Ukraine, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, and Iceland.
- HHAV Position: Support
- Why We Support:
- OPCs are a proven strategy to save lives.
- OPCs do not increase drug use.
- OPCs increase entry into treatment and social services.
- OPCs do not compromise public safety.
- Bill Status: Passed the House and Senate, Vetoed by Governor, and Veto of Governor Overridden
- Learn More: HHAV Fact Sheet
Recognize and protect the rights of unhoused Vermonters
- Bill: H.132
- Bill Summary: H.132 would extend anti-discrimination protections to unhoused people, including protections when seeking housing (sale or rental), employment, and/or access to places of public accommodation.
- HHAV Position: Support
- Why We Support:
- Vermont has one of the highest rates of unhoused people in the country.
- A Homeless Bill of Rights provides an opportunity to help move Vermont away from the criminalization of poverty.
- Vermont should join the growing list of our northeast neighbors in passing a Homeless Bill of Rights.
- The staggering racial bias in the enforcement of Vermont’s criminal laws coupled with the staggering racial disparity in the rate of unhoused Vermonters means the Homeless Bill of Rights is a racial justice imperative.
- Bill Status: Passed the House and failed to pass the Senate
- Learn More: HHAV Fact Sheet
End of Session Documents: