Bill > H0498

Introduced Session

This bill proposes to amend various provisions of Title 24 to prohibit municipal corporations from adopting civil or criminal ordinances that would prevent an individual from engaging in life-sustaining activities on municipal property, such as sleeping, camping, resting, or loitering. This bill also proposes to authorize municipal corporations to adopt certain ordinances prohibiting the use of municipal property for life-sustaining activities whenever adequate shelter is available. This bill also proposes to establish a State-funded grant program to support municipal diversionary programs for unhoused individuals; municipal services relating to mental health care, addiction treatment, and job training; and partnerships between municipalities and nonprofit organizations to provide temporary, transitional, and permanent housing. This bill also proposes to allow municipalities to designate humanitarian zones in public spaces, in H.498 which unhoused individuals may access sanitation facilities, water, and temporary shelter. This bill also proposes to appropriate monies to the Agency of Human Services for purposes of expanding housing programs that prioritize immediate, low-barrier housing solutions for unhoused individuals and families. This bill also proposes to amend statutes related to affordable housing to provide tax incentives for developers that create affordable housing units, enact rent stabilization and eviction protection for residential tenants, appropriate monies for the construction of affordable housing units by the State, and establish public-private partnerships to expand the availability of housing stock statewide. This bill also proposes to amend the statutes governing regional and municipal planning to require municipalities to include homelessness strategies within the municipal plan and to authorize grants to be used for purposes of technical assistance for municipalities that adopt and revise new plans. This bill also proposes to require annual reports from municipalities and State agencies concerning the status of homelessness within the State, the effectiveness of any measures that have been implemented, and progress towards the reduction of homelessness in Vermont. This bill also proposes to establish a task force, composed of legislators, municipal representatives, advocates, and individuals with lived experience, to study and oversee the implementation of the proposals within this bill. H.498

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Troy Headrick (D)*, 

Read first time and referred to the Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs (on 04/01/2025)

Official Document