Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Good afternoon, everyone. This is the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development. It is Thursday, 02/05/2026, at 01:05 in the afternoon. So this afternoon, we are going to begin our testimony. I'm hearing from It's Three Stores Awareness Day. Ivy? Good morning. Thank you for joining us.

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: Thank you so much.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: State your name and affiliation for this record, and we'll get to the audience acceptance moments.

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: Great. Thank you so much, Chair and Committee members, having us. For the record, my name is Ivy Enoch. I live in Burlington. I'm the Director of Policy and Advocacy at Hunger Free Vermont. And I'm here today with partners and neighbors and farmers for ThreeScores Vermont Awareness Day to acknowledge this essential program and to ask for your support on requests that together will ensure the best outcomes for our communities, our farmers and our economy. Vermont is known nationally as SNAP, but in many households, it's known as a lifeline. Nearly 10% of Vermonters receive Three Squares Vermont, which is a monthly boost to grocery budgets. Put most simply, ThreeSquares Vermont makes it easier for low income and working class folks to buy the basics: milk, bread, produce, eggs, and more. It is the most effective and efficient food security program in the country, as well as a powerful economic development program. With an approved application, people can shop with ThreeSquares Vermont using an EBT card, which is essentially a debit card. It looks and works just like a debit card. And a trip to the grocery store is just like any other shoppers experience, which is very much by design. There are more than 600 retailers across Vermont, including more than 40 farmers markets that accept those three Scores Vermont benefits. And more than $12,000,000 federal dollars are issued directly to participants each month. In November 2025, when we saw the historic and devastating lapse in federal funding for SNAP benefits, not only were 64,000 Vermonters stressed and worried about how they would pay for groceries, but our local businesses were stressed about filling a $12,000,000 gap in their bottom lines that month. Vermont's heroic effort to use state funds to issue partial benefits was a huge relief to families and grocers alike and proved to be a wise investment in the safety and health of our communities. While ThreeScores Vermont effectively reaches the most low income folks, many more qualify. There are various reasons for this discrepancy, including additional eligibility requirements and complex application processes. Accessing ThreeScores Vermont was made more challenging in October 2025 with federal changes to SNAP included in HR1 when they went into effect. In addition to federal eligibility changes to SNAP, HR1 made changes to the funding structure of SNAP. Vermont faces additional costs to administer ThreeScores Vermont beginning in October 2026, because the federal government is pulling back their share, some of their share of administrative costs. Hunger Free Vermont has been closely following the state's projections regarding increased administrative costs resulting from reduced federal funding. We are glad that the administration included funding for this and urged the legislature to continue to pay close attention to full funding needed to make sure we keep this critical food security and economic development program thriving in our state. FreeScore Vermont helps people afford the basics so they can keep gas in the car to get to work, pay for childcare, pay the rent and other essentials. When people lose eligibility, whether because they no longer qualify or because of complex reporting and paperwork rules, it harms the health and economic strength of our communities. This is one of the many reasons why having trained and trusted benefit assisters at organizations across the state is so important. These are people who understand the complex rules and processes and help people apply for ThreeScores Vermont and other federal programs that not only support families, but draw down and maximize and leverage federal dollars and have a multiplier effect in our communities. We already have a very strong network of benefit assisters, and Vermont is often lifted up as a model for other states. Benefit assisters not only ensure a unified understanding of ThreeScores Vermont across the state, but actually support our state agency by helping ensure applications are completed accurately, which reduces administrative burden on the state and supports a low SNAP payment error rate. Service providing organizations of benefit assisters in our communities are responding now to many complex program changes and greater need, as well as reduced federal funding to their own operations. Investing in this existing network of benefit assisters at trusted organizations across Vermont will have a multiplier effect by helping eligible folks continue to receive ThreeSquares Vermont and keep those federal dollars flowing to our grocers, farmers, and overall economy. Food security is a policy choice, and ThreeScores Vermont is an essential part of the pathway to supporting and achieving food security in Vermont. There are policy choices in front of you this year that will go far in ensuring the best outcomes for Vermonters in this moment. Please support full funding of the administrative costs needed for state fiscal year 2027 to counter federal funding changes of ThreeSquare Vermont or SNAP administration and keep ThreeSquare Vermont available and accessible to people in Vermont. And secondly, please support the appropriation of $4,950,000 in state fiscal year 2027 for benefit assisters for SNAP and Medicaid. Thank you very much for your time.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Any questions?

[Unidentified Committee Member]: So forgive me if I don't understand the structure. My impression, and this might be about you might not be the right person to ask. I understand that within the system, are network providers or network service providers. And then of course, are other food shelves and things like that, and things. And I remember the October thing, it was some extra assistance we provided to the service provider, but it had trouble trickling down to some of the smaller things and stuff. Is that something that, I mean, in terms of policy, I think you're involved in policy development. Yes. Is that an issue that has come up to your folks at pinch?

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: Well, absolutely. And the Vermont Food Bank is a really important, the programs that they provide.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: The food bank, thank

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: you Yeah, they are an essential piece of the food security puzzle. And they do have an appropriation request this year. They are seeing a drastic increase in visitation to their local food shelf and food bank partners. And so supporting their request is very complementary to the request to ensure the SNAP administrative costs are funded and that benefit assisters are fully funded. Because we know, while Three Squares a Month is the most effective program, it doesn't meet the whole grocery budget for many families, and there are folks who have to also tap into their local food shelves.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Think that local food shelves might not be network provider.

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: Of the Vermont Food Bank.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Of the food bank. So, I am probably asking the wrong question.

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: I would be happy to connect you with a partner at the Vermont Food Bank.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Right, because it didn't always trickle down to some small things.

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: I think that's right.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Any other questions for Abbey?

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: Can you share more about the benefit assistance? I was hearing a little bit about it. Sorry, Emily Carris Duncan. Monique Priestley can help. Thank you so much for your help. Thank you. I was hearing a little bit about it from the parent child centers, and they know this program is like that. Can you explain how it all kind of works together?

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: Yeah, absolutely. So this specific appropriation was really produced quite organically from a number of different organizations coming together to realize that many of us have a very similar need, which is bolstering our funding to support direct service providing across the state. So the parent child centers are included in this, the community action agencies across the state, the state of Vermont's SNAP Outreach grant partners. So there really is a very broad and sophisticated network of benefit assisters across Vermont who are trusted in their local communities, who really humanize the experience of navigating this complex application and enrollment process. They have the expertise to help folks navigate those questions. And Hunger Free Vermont is an organization that provides that program training to benefit assisters. So there's a really unified understanding of this program, who qualifies, application assistance best practices to ensure across the state folks are getting the support that they need. Thank you. Yeah.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Questions? Heidi, thank you.

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: Thank you very much.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Mark, good afternoon.

[Marc Boutin (Vermont Retail & Grocers Association)]: Good afternoon. Thank you so much for allowing me to Zoom in. I wish I could be there with you. Chair Marcotte, members of the committee, my name is Marc Boutin, and I serve as Board Chair of the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association. VRJ's membership includes over 200 food retailers and grocery stores, independent grocers, country stores, convenience stores, specialty food retailers, all operating in communities in every county of Vermont. And many of these businesses serve as the primary or only food retailer in their town. From the perspective of Vermont grocers, Three Squares Vermont is a core component of how the food retail system functions in the state. Participation in the program within our membership spans every type of food operation from large chain stores and supermarkets to small independent stores, village markets and convenience stores. In many rural parts of Vermont, residents rely on their local grocer's country store for day to day food needs. The ability to use Three Squares VT benefits at those stores is often the difference between a store staying open and closing its doors. These stores work on a very tight profit margin. Each month, approximately $13,000,000 in federal food benefits is spent at Vermont food retailers through Three Squares. For grocers, these transactions that move through their register support payroll, allow stores to pay distributors and farmers and help keep shelf stocked. Grocery stores operate on extremely thin margins and consistent monthly sales volume is really critical to maintaining their basic operations. One of reasons Three Squares works well for retailers is that it integrates seamlessly into existing grocery systems. There's no special stocking requirements, no separate product labeling, no parallel inventory systems, staff aren't asked to treat these transactions any differently from any other sale, which is good for the stores and good for the folks who need these benefits. That operational simplicity matters in food retail where labor shortages are ongoing, turnover is high and checkout efficiency directly affects both the customer experience and the store costs. Three Squares Vermont also helps stabilize purchasing patterns throughout the month. When families have reliable access to grocery benefits, they can shop more consistently rather than sort of in crisis cycles. For retailers that steady flow of customers allows better staffing decisions, more accurate ordering, more efficient use of labor. These operation details seem small, but across hundreds of stores, they really add up to a meaningful stability. The importance of this program is most visible in rural communities. In many towns, the local grocery or country store is not only a place to buy food, but also a key employer and critical piece of the local infrastructure. Losing a store can mean longer drives for food, higher costs for families and fewer jobs in the community. Three Squares Vermont plays a direct role in keeping these stores viable by ensuring that food dollars are spent locally. From the retail's perspective, Three Squares Vermont is a program that works because it aligns with how grocery stores actually operate. And it supports customer choice, keeps checkout efficient and avoids unnecessary administrative burdens and provides a dependable stream of revenue that helps stores plan and survive in a challenging economic environment. For Vermont grocers and food retailers, this program is not optional or marginal. It's really a part of the foundation that allows food retail to function across the state, particularly outside major population centers. On behalf of the Retail Grocers Association, we urge and continued recognition of the role of Three Squares Vermont plays in sustaining Vermont's grocery stores, protecting access to food in rural communities, and keeping federal food dollars circulating in Vermont's local economy. And one last thing I'd like to say, as I was thinking about reading this to you guys, it's really important to think of hungry Vermonters as the first link in this really important civic chain. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and to share the on the ground perspective of Vermont food retailers. Thanks very much.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Thank you, Mark. Questions?

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Mary?

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Good afternoon.

[Mary Malali (Hunger Mountain Co-op)]: Good afternoon. Can you hear me?

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Yes. We can.

[Mary Malali (Hunger Mountain Co-op)]: Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much for having me here today. Hello. My name is Mary Malali. I live and work in Montpelier as the general manager of the Hunger Mountain Co op. Thank you for having me here today to discuss this very important issue and to share the perspective of both grocery store and also the broader local food economy. I'm here today to talk about Three Squares of Vermont and to ask you to fully fund the necessary administration costs to operate Three Squares in our state for state fiscal year 2027 to counter the federal funding changes. Oh, sorry. Lost my place there. Full funding for Three Squares Vermont administration is critical to keep this program available for all who are eligible in Vermont. Investing that money now will allow Vermont to continue leveraging over 150,000,000 in federal dollars that are spent directly in our food system during the same twelve month period. And without that full funding needed to operate Three Squares Vermont, state will have to greatly reduce eligibility to restrict who can participate or pull out of operating the program entirely. At the coop, we proudly accept SNAP EBT to help make healthy food accessible to as many people as possible. People with a variety of health issues rely on the coop to purchase items that help them to heal and eat within dietary restrictions. Reductions in SNAP benefits will put people at risk for health complications based on their economic ability to access the foods that they need. So shoppers who use SNAP EBT payment methods spent almost $400,000 at the coop over the past fiscal year in 2025, and this accounts for 1.3% of our sales. And you think might think, well, what what is that? You know? But but we, like most grocery stores, operate on very thin margins, and any reduction in our income impacts our bottom line. Additionally, approximately 40% of the coop sales come from local producers, local products. So this could amount to over a $150,000 not making its way to our local farmers and producers. And we're just one example of that. Right? This this is money spent that stays in our local economy and allows small farmers and producers to thrive. And cut in these benefits will not only affect the recipients, but also the entire local food economy. So please fully fund the necessary administration costs to operate Three Squares Vermont and our state for state fiscal year 2027 to counter the federal funding changes and to keep Three Squares Vermont available and accessible to people in Vermont. Thank you very much for having me, I'm happy to answer any questions.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Thank you, Mary. Any questions from the line? Thank you. Michael?

[Michael Boutin (Member)]: Yeah, I was just Just for clarity, the administrative costs, we're not talking about we're not talking about because I think the cutoff is eighty hours a month for SNAP benefits to be dispersed unless they're on disability, whatever other exemptions there are. Is that correct? You're not talking about increasing or having are you talking about covering individuals that are not doing eighty hours of work?

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: I would be happy to answer that question, if I may, chair. So what we are talking about is making sure that the Department for Children and Fam Families has the administrative funding that they need to operate this program in their state. So process applications, have staff at the call centers to complete the interviews with folks have staff at the district offices, make sure that they are operating this program with integrity and doing it efficiently. And in July with HR one, the federal government essentially said that they would no longer split the full administrative costs that state by 50%. So in effect, all states have to contribute an additional 25% of the cost to administer. So that would be for the entire state of Vermont.

[Michael Boutin (Member)]: Okay, thank you for that.

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: Yeah, absolutely. It's a very complicated program.

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: Just for clarity, that now means that Vermont has a 75, 25 split?

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: That's correct. Okay. You.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Questions? Jamie?

[Jamie Skye Bianco (Ramble Bramble Farm)]: Hi, everyone. I don't usually see this many people in a day or a week. I'm a farmer, so this is very exciting. So thank you so much for having me here and for the opportunity. I am Jamie Skye Bianco, and I'm the owner of Ramble Bramble Farm. I'm here testifying in support of the $500,000 in ongoing funding for Crop Cash, Crop Cash Plus, and Farm Share, the three Squares Vermont programs. But specifically, I wanna share my story as a farmer about how Crop Cash Plus has impacted my business and the growth of my business. So Ramble Bramble Farm sits on a 136 acres. I am mountaintop right in kind of the poop trail of Camel's hump, so right behind the camel. And I'm a Vermont organic farmer, certified organic protein producer. I raise sheep, goats, and chickens, specifically for eggs, and I'm also a sourdough and focaccia baker. Check my last name. I sell primarily in farmer's markets, including Burlington and Winooski, Jericho, Richmond, and Middlebury. I also wholesale to other farmers who have farm stores or farm outlets, such as Trillium Hill in Hinesburg, Last Resort Farm in Moncton, and I also wholesale to small groceries such as Jubilee, Fifth Quarter in Warren, and restaurants like Ida Pizza Pies in Burlington. So, I'm committed and my brand is centered on the cleanest, most nutritious food that I can possibly produce, and that's what customers have come to expect from my brand. That means the practices are labor intensive and more expensive. And historically, that's made clean, nutritionally dense food inaccessible to folks, where food accessibility was an issue because of cost. And despite despite the the expense that's involved in production and delivery, Crop Cash Plus has enabled many more customers to afford my products. And I'm really basing this on the last two years of sales. So this is something the decision that I'm gonna describe to you comes from the last two years particularly. I'm really proud to say that 30% of my lamb and goat meat sales and 20% of my bread sales come in through customers paying Crop Cash Plus. It is a huge piece of my business. Have a lot of conversations with my customers, and while there are a few that are new Americans, most are purchasing not as constituents of halal or ethnic markets, but simply people that are interested in different forms of protein. These are people who are purchasing my meats instead of others because they prefer organic lamb, mutton, and goat, and they want nutritious food that is fed grass and hay and rotated every three days on the fields. And I can share with you that they're being very conscious in choosing to support the farmers market, the farmers in their own health and well-being. So I wanna share conversation that I had with a customer who I see regularly, every single week at Winooski. And during the withholding of the federal SNAP benefits, he had visited the local food pantry, and then I saw him after that. And he came and told me that he was hoarding his crop cash plus to be able to buy the protein that served his dietary needs, and particularly his medical dietary needs, kind of echoing a message we heard earlier. This is, you know, I I mean, I'm I I can't tell you how proud that makes me as a farmer to be able to be that supplier, but I do have costs. And so without this program, that interaction and that customer, and I wouldn't even be having that conversation, much less have that person be one of my regulars at Winooski. So I can't begin to say how important it is to have the support of the program in order to access high quality, gorgeous eggs, high quality, beautiful cuts of meat. I have many customers who are disabled and many with children. I learn their stories. I learn their names. I know what they like to eat. They make requests for the next flavor of bocaccia for the next week, and I try to try to really meet them because we're in Simpatico with one another. I'm not serving them or offering them something. They're choosing to come to a farmer's market with those benefits, and therefore, they're directly supporting my business. So I thank them with every interaction. They refer to me at one market as the Little Farmer grocery, not because I'm little, but because I have a little grocery store with bread and eggs and meat. And, I it's kind of the ideal Vermont brand. And tourists also comment on this constantly, the display and what's available and the quality. So further, it goes without saying that a high percentage of sales being supported by Crop Cash Plus, as a farmer and a small business, I'm hugely invested, in its continuation, and I'm a partner in this program. And let me share the outcome of this growth. I'm taking on a part time person for the first time in fourteen years of farming, and it's a at a good time for my age. It's nice to have a little help these days. I'm not old, but, you know, things start to creak. And so I'm gonna be able to take this person on half time, and then I also have been able to put together an apartment above one of my shops to offer housing that will be part of the employment opportunity here. My hope is that by the end of the year, with the increase in the number of animals I've bred this fall and with sales that are upcoming that I'll actually be able to move that to full time, I have capacity for three times the number of animals on my property. And I have a very careful grazing program with UVM, and we're very carefully managing and conserving land and soil and water quality. So the growth of the farm and the farm employment is a direct result of the growth in sales, and it's specifically goat, if I if I'm being really clear about what people are really interested in it as a clean, environmentally sound meat. This growth is a direct result of the sales and the food accessibility programs that I'm able to accept as a farmer. So as I mentioned, the farm works with various agencies that support for greasing, fencing. I'm on a heavily conserved farm, so I work with a lot of different agencies to support the farm and maintain its growth. Certainly in in the the wake of 2023, I was affected by the flooding. I've had a lot of support, but the actual growth of the farm is in sales. It's in the market. So I cannot urge you strongly enough to continue support, and specifically $500,000 in funding for Crop Cash, Crop Cash Plus, and Farm Share for the fiscal year twenty seven budget. This is an engine for growth for small farms in this state, as well as for food accessibility, and it's the ethically right thing to do to support this entire beautiful network that Simpatico feeds back into the economy of Vermont. And also, really like feeding people, you know, nutritionally dense, locally produced food. Thank you so much for this opportunity, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Herb, quick question. Sure. Coconut. Coconut is great. It's

[Jamie Skye Bianco (Ramble Bramble Farm)]: I I wish everybody understood.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Do you do you do you wholesale to Last Resort Farms?

[Jamie Skye Bianco (Ramble Bramble Farm)]: I do.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: There we go.

[Jamie Skye Bianco (Ramble Bramble Farm)]: Have you purchased my meat at Last Resort? No.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: But I didn't know that I have a goat. They

[Jamie Skye Bianco (Ramble Bramble Farm)]: purchased mutton. Eugenie and Sam and Silas purchased mutton and lamb and goat. Yeah. And they are also certified organic, so we are firm partners in that

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: way. Else?

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Thank you very much.

[Jamie Skye Bianco (Ramble Bramble Farm)]: Thank you. I appreciate being able to be here.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Thank you all for joining us today. Yep.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Sure. Doing well. How are doing, Marcotte? Good. Can hear Marcotte? Oh, thanks for having

[Unidentified Committee Member]: us.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Thank you for coming in. Yeah.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Give me one moment. I'm a get on the Zoom. And I didn't come in earlier. Was too crowded.

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: I don't I don't do good in crowded rooms.

[Jonathan Cooper (Member)]: They didn't have the balcony seat open.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: You sold four or five tickets.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: You could charge good for the tickets. You're coming out. I guess I can't get in until you start the meeting, right?

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: It's been starting with Zoom for you.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: The one Megan sent me last night. Says it starts at one. Is that okay to use?

[Mary Malali (Hunger Mountain Co-op)]: Yes.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Everybody doing? Yeah. I'll say for the record, Richard with Local Motion. It's great to be back in front of this committee. Spent a lot of time in here when I was at ACCD. So good to see you all. Appreciate the chair inviting me back. And I'm going to share a little bit about what we do at Locomotion once I get live access.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: We certainly put the song in my head.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: There we go. CR? Yes. Yes.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: One thing you really want us to know.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: All right, we're good.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: All right. Good

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: afternoon, everyone. Richard. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for having us in committee. I'm Richard Amore for the record with Local Motion's program director, and I'm joined with Christina Erickson, our executive director as well. Good to see you all again. I'm gonna share a little bit about what we do at Local Motion and why it matters and the economic impact of outdoor recreation and transportation investments. Local Motion is a nonprofit statewide organization supporting communities and advancing bicycle pedestrian infrastructure with a mission to really make it safe, accessible and fun for everyone to bike, walk and roll. We fundamentally believe that streets and roads should be for all of our modern people walk, bike, roll, drive, use transit. And we go about our work in two different ways. We have a programs team who does a lot of work supporting communities, doing technical assistance and helping communities build complete streets, design and plan and advocate for complete streets. We also do a lot of work working with schools and children and education about culture building and safety and safe routes to school and supporting kids to be able to walk and bike to school safely. And then we have another arm of our shop that supports kind of activity on the Island Line Trail. We run out bikes along the rail trail in Burlington, along Lake Champlain. We have a bike ferry that crosses the Colchester Causeway. We provide some community services and I'm going walk about through those a little bit. Marcotte knows and a few members of the community knows, I go fast, I talk fast. Throw something at me if you need me to slow down or answer a question or something. I know we're running a little bit behind, so I will try to make up for some of that time. Our Trailside Center rents out thousands of bikes every year. We all know, and you've probably heard from Outdoor Recreation Advocacy Day today, the importance of the outdoor recreation economy. Throughout the state, it brings over 2,100,000,000 to our state annually, over 5% of our GDP. And as rights, visitors spend over $450 a day when they come. And we need those visitors to support our local economies. We see it every day on the work we do on the online trail. We had over 35, 31 different countries, people visiting from 31 different countries last year at all different states just to come to rent a bike, to go on the ferry and enjoy the beauty of Lake Champlain and the Colchester Causeway. Our bike carrier last year saw nearly 40,000 boardings crossing the cut. And most of those folks, you could say, are out of state visitors. But the locals use it as well, even some people who commute over from the islands to work in Burlington. We have visitors from 55 towns in Vermont, 37 states and nine countries actually going across the causeway. And then we provide community services more in the Burlington, Chinook County area where we provide valet bike parking. So when there's big events on the waterfront or Vermont Green games, there's a lot of activity on Vermont Green today, we provide secure and safe parking for those community members. I think we had over 400 people at our largest event last year at Jazz Fest using valet bike parking. And then we provide services to businesses and restaurants in amenities. We have an interactive map so businesses and restaurants can market their shops to visitors along the Island Line Trail. And then a lot of the work and a lot of work I historically did with this committee is supporting rural communities, supporting community technical assistance. Our team also provides a lot of community technical assistance supporting planning, scoping, design of transportation improvements, both supporting projects, but also supporting community engagement, local advocacy, local policy work, and do demonstration projects. We did a demonstration project last year in Chester, working with our town manager, Julie Hance. You can see the quote behind me. I'm not going to go behind it or read it through, but it's really about supporting people, the residents and neighbors, and supporting the local economy. And what they did, they went through a program that I used to run and this community is familiar with, Better Connections, a community driven vision about how to improve their village vitality through transportation and land use planning. The priority was to improve the business district around the Village Green to make it safer to walk and bike. They came to Local Motion and asked us how we could demo that and test before we buy. So we went and did a temporary two week project showing how new crosswalks, intersections improvements, better safe walking in front of the actual businesses along the Village Green. And we tested it for a couple of weeks, community responded, and it was a good way to test the community acceptance and buy in before they do a long term investment. They were awarded a downtown transportation fund from my old colleagues. Now they're implementing these things this year. That's just good planning, good government planning, community driven, testing the infrastructure investment before you actually invest in it, and then going making it happen. We also do a lot of work supporting schools across the state. We do safe versus school work. We used to do a lot more of this when it was funded by the feds and the state veterans. That funding has gone away. We're advocating, we're in house transportation, advocating for this funding to come back. It's really important that our younger neighbors can walk and bike to school safely. And we do a lot of work supporting that. We go around the state, as you can see here, bringing trailers of bikes to schools across the state, working with PE teachers, educating kids how to ride and bike safely around their communities. We, since 2012, have done over 100,000 children have been engaged in over 150 towns across the state. I truly believe if you change the street, you can change the world. I'm just kind of sharing some examples of that. Streets can be for many things beyond just moving cars. They can be for commerce. You see here in St. Johnsbury, in St. Albans. We've all seen the transformation in Downtown St. Albans for places to build community in Lindenville or for kids to walk safely to school in Northville or celebrate community events like July 4 in Montpelier or create Halloween memories, mother and daughter on Halloween night in Waterbury. Sharing a good quote why we lean into this work and why it matters more than ever given what's going on in our world today. Good quote from our friend Jillian up in St. John's Berry talking about, we really do this work for community economic development to create reasons for people of different backgrounds to share experiences and joy with one another. Building off a lot of the work we did in this committee and really proud of what we did with Better Places is really the work of bringing people together to build shared experience and trust and belonging with one another. And streets are our largest public spaces in our communities. How can we use those differently to leverage better outcomes and create safer places for our neighbors and our community members and really support safety in our downtowns and our villages? I've gone through a lot of community meetings in villages across the state in my past work. Number one concern we always heard is safety, traffic, speeding. Now can we slow down cars in our village to support economic activity? And that's a real barrier in a lot of our rural communities across the state. At the end of the day, we need to make sure our older neighbors, our kids return home from walking to school, walking to the post office. And that's why this work matters more than ever. And it's good for economic development. There's no better tourism, marketing draw, talent recruitment, workforce development strategy than investing in place based economic development where people want to live, work and play. And shared some of this impact. Mean, you probably saw some of it. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail has been an economic engine and has potentially even be a bigger rural development economic engine across 18 towns across Northern Vermont. There was one county study that NVDA did looking at the economic impact of what the LVRT could bring in that county. And they are estimating that it could bring $4,700,000 of annual sales activity just in that one county alone. Same thing. They did a similar study looking at the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail in Franklin County. Not as large of visitors, not a large economic impact because it's not as well written, but you can still see bringing over to almost $2,000,000 of annual spending. And these are still untapped resources. We see it every day on the Island Line Trail in Burlington, we have over 150,000 unique visitors coming to experience the beauty of Lake Champlain and ride on the Island Line Trail. And anywhere from 30 to 50% of these are out of state visitors who have deeper pockets contributing to the local economy, not only in Chittenden County, but in South Euro, Grand Isle and along the Champlain Islands. And it's really about investing in place. A lot of this work done historically in this committee is about place based economic development, investing in infrastructure that improves wildlife for our friends and neighbors and for owners, but also leveraging that investment for economic development activity. And how can we leverage these assets, our recreational assets to drive economic activity? This is an example of Stowe and a recreational path and all the breweries that popped up along the bike path. You go there in the summer and it's a very congested bike path and bringing a lot of people and economic activity to the state to Stowe. And how can we spread that love out across the 93 miles of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and other trails across the state? Just wanted to reflect on this conversation. There's a lot of conversation I know in this committee about housing and infrastructure needed to support housing. I really just want to raise the importance. There's been a lot of that about underground infrastructure because you got to have pipes to build a housing unit of water and wastewater to support housing development, especially in our compact downtowns and village. It's critically important, but we can't neglect the aboveground infrastructure. And we're adding new housing, new neighbors. We need to make sure they're connected to our downtowns, our main street to our schools. People can walk and bike safely to around places and not be putting new schools or new homes in places that are not in safe connected places. And customers are demanding this, especially younger generations, but we'll see across the country and in Vermont, people demand a premium for homes and walkable places. And there's a huge gap there. We haven't invested in a lot of homes in walkable places. We have a lot of historic buildings in our walkable towns, but there's not even a lot of new development in our downtowns and villages. How can we leverage that and meet customers where they're demanding how they want to live? I want to share a couple legislative priorities from local motion that we've been working with house transportation, mostly for visibility for you all, really, I didn't touch much on your work, but it's important to know we're working with them, the close and outdated safety gaps, improving walking and biking in downtowns. Right now, cars can park right beside a crosswalk when kids or folks are walking across a mid block crosswalk. You can't see that person because there's a car right there. Most other states have a 20 foot rule that you can't park within a mid block crosswalk or intersection crosswalk. We're asking for those changes in state statute, as well as no longer allowing people to pass on a no passing zone in a center turn lane on a three lane road. Every other state has that rule. These are just some of the gaps that we have not addressed. There's been a lot of conversation about e bikes. I can't wait to talk about e bikes. Do regarding the crosswalks, you know that they do bump outs for crosswalks. Are you still suggesting to have that 20 foot? So right now, in state statute, it says for intersection crosswalks, there is a 20 foot buffer. For mid block crossings like in front of Capitol Grounds or something here in Montpelier, there is no rule for mid block crossings. Other states say it should be 20 foot. If you have a bulb out, which gives you a little bit more visibility, it's dialed back to 15 feet. And I believe that's what's in the transportation bill that's going to be introduced tomorrow. So 15 feet if you have a bulldog, 20 feet if you don't. Makes sense? Any other questions? A lot of conversation in the state about e bikes, both on fire risk and battery safety, as well as e bike parking, e motors. We're seeing like motorbikes that don't have pedals, but are electric pedestrian cyclists, conflicts on paths and really kind of path behavior. So we're recommending a study and a task force to look at this from an interagency with the state fire chief or fire marshal, as well as local and regional advocates and partners to really look at how we can develop model policies, model ordinances to really mitigate fire safety concerns as well as path behavior. As well, one other thing we're supporting Burlington's adoption of traffic cameras to enforce safety and some of the corridors in their community to slow down traffic and regulate speeding in the Burlington area. One thing I want to highlight, it's already been a success just working with my old friend Laura Trichman in the ship up. Historically, for twenty years, when you do a bicycle and pedestrian project, a streetscape project in a downtown that's already been disrupted, they would have to do a historic preservation review and archaeological review for any retrofits of existing sidewalks or new projects. It's been a barrier adding cost, the time to these projects and constructing and planning these projects. Working with Federal Highway and B TRANS and SHPO, they are removing this barrier. So historic preservation review will not be a bottleneck for transportation investments in the future. If it is a new project, digging up ground, blazing a new trailer path, it will still have to go through archaeological review, but it would not have to go through historic preservation review. Just to share, we are in common alignment with BOBA's policy priorities and workforce development, and really wanted to highlight something near and dear to my heart as I worked on the agency and we've seen the outcomes of local motion and seeing the impact across the state is the BORA Act, the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative. It's great to see in the governor's budget another half million for that program to keep the program lights on, keep it going, showing the real investments in the outdoor recreational economy. Would love to see this as base funding permanently. I know the fiscal environment is very tight, but it'd be really great to see that base funding. So it's a sustainable program. Communities can rely on it in a consistent, reliable way. And if we're asking, I would love to see what it was two years ago, three years ago when it was 5,000,000. We're not in that same fiscal climate, and I respect that. But just wanted to plug the importance of seeing the results on the ground and communities from these programs. Earlier in the week, had Transportation for Vermonters Day, and these are the policy priorities from the broader Coalition for Transportation Vermonters supporting transit, supporting funding, defending Act 181. All things were in common alignment with. I just wanted to highlight some of the funding programs that have really made a difference in rural communities and economic development. Better Connections program, I believe you all know, I used to share in this committee, but it's an important community driven planning program that looks at housing, land use, economic development, water quality together and just continue to advocate level funding for that program. So we can do two to three projects a year. And it's a really good program for communities that have a conversation about how to improve the vitality of their towns, including, as you see, Jason Rasmussen here about how these programs really provide the capital and resources to really engage the community and build consensus. Downtown Transportation Fund, I believe Carrie Holloway was maybe in here or announced transportation earlier today talking about Downtown Transportation Fund, another great funding program that's state money, flexible money to support downtown transportation projects that improve sidewalk, walkability, biking, but also little things that you don't see in other funding programs like wayfinding and signages, better lighting and stuff that's important kind of for our main street vitality. Great program. It did get a $5,000,000 infusion of capital during the days and the high days of funding, And it was opened up to villages, which was great to see villages like Chester and others taking advantage of. It is going back down to that 500,000 for designated downtowns. We would love to see that continue to open it up to our rural villages. Know the fiscal environment is tough, but it really did have an impact when we opened it up to villages. Another program that is administered by VTrans is the bicycle and pedestrian program. And this grants out to communities to do scoping and planning, as well as capital investments in sidewalks, bike lane, pull outs and transportation improvements. It has paid really good dividends in supporting our main street vitality. And just wanted to share the impact. St. Albans is a poster child for how they leverage these funding to Downtown Transportation Fund, the Bicycle Pedestrian Grant Program, to really transform a sleepy old town ten years ago that was a little tired and down on its luck to what it is today. And it all started with public investment. They did a main street revitalization plan, looking at capital investments to their main street and improving their sidewalks and bulb outs and outdoor dining opportunities. And that has driven public investment. In the first five years, you can see over three to one return on that private investment, dollars 12,000,000 of private public investment, returned $33,000,000 of public investment with new restaurants, new hotels, new businesses coming in and new housing coming into downtown St. Albans. Similar story in Bristol, Vermont, back in the '80s, this is a photo of Bristol. Bristol. You've seen this photo, I'm sure, in committee before from me. It was sleepy, tired downtown, but they've really leveraged their recreational assets, both with adding a nature based playground on the Village Green, with their Bristol Trail Network, as well as adding more housing right into downtown with our co housing community right behind Main Street, adding more people, more vitality to support Main Street commerce. A couple of things I want to wrap up on, some new programs to share out and encourage you to share with your communities. We are partnering with AARP Vermont Preservation Trust Front Porch Forum to launch a Streets as Places micro grant program to support community led activations and block parties and neighborhood gatherings in streets to reimagine streets for people, bring people together, build connection, trust and belonging more needed than ever during these times. And really small grants just to build community kind of capacity to support these events, to build connections with their neighbors. Another emerging partnership we're working with VTrans on is supporting communities along the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. This later this spring and summer, we're going be leaning into this work, supporting the 18 towns along the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, really how they can physically connect in a safe way, but also economically connect and leverage that recreational asset that runs through their communities. And all in, you know, with the thrilling of the heifers in Downtown Brattleboro, a great street should be the most desirable place to be, to spend time, to live, to play, to work, at the same time, markedly contribute to what a community should be. Streets are the settings that bring people together, and that's what our streets should be. We've been doing it since the beginning of time, even in 1886 with the winter carnival in Toboggan Hill and Main Street in Burlington. Thank you. That was a lot. That was fast. Good to see you all. Welcome to questions. I can cover it later.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Sorry for questions. Here we go. So it's a street set, and I get what you're doing, and I think it was great. You touched on Act 101 a little bit and a lot of the rural tenants are having trouble leveraging that, the incentives and that. And I could be wrong, but I think there's a requirement for tier one B, which is typical sort of village thing like another sidewalk. And I think that could be an issue, you know, if you got a town that maybe they'd like to do, but they can't fund it or whatever. So I'm wondering how you, I mean, I think I want to try to incentivize housing in some of these railroads centers, but it's a big hurdle when they try to take out of fire trucks, how can we get some sidewalks in some of these really small little things? Any thoughts about that?

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Yeah, I mean, it's a concern, especially rural towns where they don't have sidewalks and making that first capital investment. Oftentimes, like I was in Fairley a couple of years ago and we were just doing it in Jericho more recently, there were sidewalks in these towns, right? And we had a sidewalk reveal party in Fairleigh where we were out there digging up grass over the historic sidewalks. So over time, sediment and grass have come and taken over the sidewalk. So we used to invest in these things and we let them go for lack of maintenance, lack of cost. And so it is a real challenge in our rural communities. I would advocate we need more funding to do that. There's never enough money to go around. We were just in house transportation on Tuesday advocating for the Transportation Alternatives Program, one of the federal funding sources for sidewalks. That funding has been reallocated to support environmental mitigation projects. Since the Clean Water Days in 2017 '18, they made a state statutory change that money should go to clean water and supporting that. That's one of the only funding sources from the Fed that really support bicycle and pedestrian. Environmental litigation is allowed, but other states only allow like 20%. We're advocating for fiftyfifty to back fiftyfifty to eightytwenty to have 30% more of that funding supporting bicycle pedestrian. And that's federal money. You can't these days count on federal money, but there are pockets of funding that have been reprioritized to support this work. And those are addressing those gaps in rural communities doing this investment. And there's a lot in that 21 that I used to be really involved in in ACCD, but I have made a mental block not to because it is really confusing and changing dramatically every day. And so I don't want to get into the weeds of Act 181 policy because it's probably not safe to do it in this committee anyways.

[Jonathan Cooper (Member)]: Hi Richard, Jonathan Cooper zooming in behind you. My question pertained to a portion of your presentation about the role supporting Burlington and traffic enforcement cameras. Can Can you explain more what Local Motion's role in that is?

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Yeah. Thanks, Herb Cooper. Good to hear from you, Jonathan. We are just supporting Burlington's request to put traffic safety cameras in. We are driving this. This is the city of Burlington vast, and we just know the challenges in Burlington. Many pedestrians have been injured over the years and even a young Vermonter was plowed on the sidewalk by somebody driving under the influence earlier this year. And speed is a big issue. Running red lights is a big issue in the city and the city of Burlington wants to mitigate that using this technology. And we're supporting their priority there. That makes

[Ivy Enoch (Hunger Free Vermont)]: sense? Last question.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: It does. I was just curious if that was a staff time thing or just sort of assisting in advocacy efforts, etcetera.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Yeah. We're we're we're not providing your horsepower capacity. We're just saying the Burlington's doing this request and working through the state house on it. We are in alignment with their request.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Got it. Thank you. Thanks for coming in, Richard.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: I appreciate what you're doing.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: We're all towards the streetscape stuff, in part because Bethel benefited from it. And we're still implementing things that

[Unidentified Committee Member]: are closed out of that kind of thing.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Outside the outdoor recreation gathering and my committee of constituents that were there started talking about, they were concerned about certainly we need more housing and we need to be intelligent around our roads and something coded to them. But they also were concerned and interested in access to outdoors. And one of the people there said that she spent several years living in Sweden, where she said the houses were clustered. Then there were these green spaces that ran between communities that had trails. And if they crossed roads, they crossed roads even under the roads. And she was just wondering if Vermont has any she was wondering if Vermont was thinking that way, that we were building into our new development as well as our old development accommodations for accessibility to our outdoor recreation. Yeah.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Is new developments I've seen done through conservation subdivisions where they're tightly clustered and then you have more common land. And you'll see some examples of that in Vermont. We don't have a lot of new housing development outside of Chittenden County, so you don't see a lot of opportunity. And there's the whole philosophy. I teach a planning course and I was just sharing this at UVM about garden cities that came out of England during the industrial revolution, creating city compact cities surrounded by gardens and working lands. I would say we already do that in Vermont with our statewide land use goal to plan compact development separated by the rural countryside. So really doubling down and investing in our villages and downtowns and density around that so that that's where the amenities, that's where the services are and continuing that compact development that Act 2081 is trying to do and adding housing in that way around the tighter density around our cores. And then you have that working countryside and rural lands and recreational opportunities outside the village centers. And that's in alignment with something we've been doing since the 70s.

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: Hi, Emily Carris Duncan, I'm a represent Wilmington, Windham and Halifax. I'm curious on that. We were hearing about the larger trail systems and the Vermont Hudson Trails and I think so. Is there a kind of a linking up between getting our urban centers, our complete streets into our recreational trail systems?

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Yeah, there is, but there's a lot of work to be done. Rail trails across the state, communities have made investments to physically and economically better connect and leverage that asset. Some communities like Bristol and others have done direct connections and sidewalk connection to the Bristol Trail Network and other communities. But there's a lot more to be done to really leverage that economic potential because we really want to get people off the It's great that people are going to the trails in the Recreate and doing beautiful things, but we really need to get people off the trails to our downtown businesses and Main Streets to support economic activity, as well as for us, Vermonters who live in the neighborhoods and downtowns and villages, be able to access the opportunities maybe without a car and take a bicycle or take a hike and be able to walk safely from your home to a recreational opportunity or be able to access the road trail on a safe way. Not all the road trails have sidewalk connections to their Main Street business district. That's a huge gap. And that's not only a physical safety gap, that's an economic gap that we're missing and not leveraging.

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: Thank you so much, Richard.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Thank you.

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: We're a little over and we've got folks waiting after. So we really appreciate the presentation and

[Unidentified Committee Member]: comments. Thank you.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: Thanks for having us again. It's good to see everybody.

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: Recreation economy, outdoor economy is always a good day.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: You for all your support over the years investing in transportation, main street investments, the outdoor economy. Thank you all. Good luck with the rest of the session. I know it's not an easy one.

[Emily Carris Duncan (Member)]: And maybe, do we want five minutes? Or are we going to keep some? I can do a second. It's okay. Are you, like, really tired? Keep starting.

[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Team of Rutland. We

[Unidentified Committee Member]: have to support the Rutland. Welcome back, Ruth.

[Richard Amore (Local Motion)]: It's a Rutland. Great. We support you.