Advocacy Update: Week 5 – 2026

February 6, 2026

Map Making Matters

If you love maps, this is the session for you. Two of the most difficult and consequential policy areas in Vermont involve mapping.

• As a state, we are transitioning our land-use policy, Act 250, to place-based jurisdiction, which necessitates mapping,
• As legislators seek efficiency, scale, and better outcomes, they seek to consolidate school districts and eventually schools, which also necessitates new maps.

Fewer people on the maps: Recent Census data revealed that Vermont had the largest population decline by percentage in the country last year, losing over 1,800 residents.

• This decline is driven by both an aging population (more deaths than births) and a second consecutive year of negative net migration, where more people moved away from Vermont than moved in.
• Economists warned that this trend exacerbates the state’s workforce shortage and tax base challenges, as one in three Vermonters will be over 65 in about three years.

Reality Check: These maps aren’t abstract exercises; they should be about dealing with this urgent demographic challenge.

• Our state has statutory housing goals that new place-based jurisdictional mapping should be helping, yet at this moment it looks like will encumber, and
• As our student population rapidly declines even faster than our overall population, consolidation is not only essential for better educational outcomes, efficiencies, and cost, it is more and more inevitable.

There is a lot in the Laundry List this week, in the launch of a $2 billion housing infrastructure program (CHIP), a potential forensic facility, and more.

We strive to make these concise and easy to read. Feedback is not just welcomed, it’s encouraged – advocacy@vermont.org

LCC Legislative Breakfast Series

Every year, we bring legislators, policymakers, and LCC members together to celebrate business ownership and entrepreneurship and advocate for economic opportunity for our region. Sponsored by EastRise Credit Union, our Legislative Breakfasts are opportunities to connect with legislators and those in higher office.

January Legislative Breakfast

• When: Working to Reschedule
• Where: The Nine | 1205 Airport Parkway, South Burlington

March Legislative Breakfast

• When: Monday, March 16 | 8:30 am
• Where: Dealer.com | 1 Howard Street, Burlington

Thank you to our hosts, The Nine and Dealer.com, for their generous support of our Legislative Breakfast Series!

Register Here

Mapping Act 250 Changes

This week, legislative activity regarding Act 250 focused on the complex and controversial implementation of Act 181, the 2024 reform law that shifted jurisdiction from project size to a location-based “tiered” system.

• While the law aims to promote housing in town centers and protect sensitive ecosystems, it has sparked significant friction between state planners and rural advocates who see tighter restrictions on 60% or more of the state as a land grab.
• Additionally, critics from more urban areas of the state have noted that the 2% to 5% of the state greenlit for development is woefully inadequate to meet the state’s housing needs and statutory goals.

Catch up quick: Act 181 transitioned the state to place–based jurisdiction, shifting from how big a project is to where it is located, which means the state is currently undergoing a first-of-its-kind mapping process to categorize all Vermont land into three tiers, which will determine how Act 250 applies:

• Tier 1 Growth Areas: Designed to ease homebuilding, this tier is split into Tier 1A, which is fully exempt for towns with sophisticated zoning, and Tier 1B, which is exempt for projects of 50 units or fewer.
  • Regional planners expect only about 2% to 2.5% of the state’s land to eventually fall into this category, though for Chittenden County, this could be as high as 11% of the land.
• Tier 2 Status Quo for Rural Areas … with a Significant Addition: Encompasses the majority of the state, where the existing Act 250 structure continues with the addition of the “road rule” under which constructing a private road over 800 feet long, or a combination of roads and driveways longer than 2,000 feet, triggers Act 250 jurisdiction in Tier 2 areas.
• Tier 3 “Critical Natural Resources”: Areas like headwater streams, rare natural communities, and habitat connectors where Act 250 review will be automatic for most construction.

Zoom out: This does not include what is in separately passed legislation, and this author jokingly calls “Tier 4”;

• Act 121, passed in 2024, authorizes the Department of Environmental Conservation to establish statewide permitting requirements for development within mapped river corridors, which will cover about 209,000 acres of Vermont land affecting an estimated 45,000 parcel owners.

Implementation Tensions: Members of the Rural Caucus have expressed frustration, worrying that this new regulatory regime could freeze economic growth in small towns. Legislators argued that the “sequencing” of the law is flawed, as regulatory triggers (like the road rule) are scheduled to take effect before the regional maps that define the tiers are finalized.

Legislative Action: H.730

In response to these concerns, H.730 was introduced by Representative Laura Sibilia and a large coalition of rural lawmakers to slow down implementation. Key provisions of the bill include:

• Delayed Rulemaking: Moving the final Tier 3 rulemaking deadline from 2026 to February 1, 2027.
• Property Owner Notice: Requiring the Land Use Review Board (LURB) to mail written notice to every property owner in a Tier 2 or Tier 3 area at least 30 days before public meetings.
• Tax Valuation Adjustments: Requiring municipal assessors to account for any impact on fair market value caused by Act 250 development requirements when appraising parcels.

S.305: Additionally, Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale introduced S.305 to clarify the law’s intent, noting in a recent meeting that current density rules may unintentionally encourage large, expensive housing instead of the clustered affordable or senior housing the legislature intended.

Between the lines: we’ve discussed in past updates the potential perils of locking up more land in regulation and the effects this will have on the state’s tax base, which is showing signs of distress with delinquencies.

Read more about Act 181 implementation via VPR

Education: Mapping & Stabilization Conversations Get Real

Some of the more abstract debates gave way to concrete proposals this week as;

• The House Education Committee considered a new map for educational governance,
• The Senate inched toward approving allowable growth rates for fiscal stabilization, and
• The House Ways and Means Committee began discussing the possible uses of surplus funds for the annual property tax rate-setting bill, called the yield bill.