Governor Phil Scott Signs Historic State Budget into Law

Governor Phil Scott signed into law the state budget, H.740, an Act Relating to making appropriations for the support of government.

“The investments we made this year will make a difference for Vermonters, building stronger communities, providing some tax relief, supporting kids and families and helping address long-term challenges like our workforce shortage and regional economic inequity,” said Governor Phil Scott. “I know far too many Vermonters are struggling with the

high cost of living and employers are struggling to fill good jobs. Our work will not be easy, and these investments will not solve every problem, but this budget will do a lot of good, and we are committed to doing all we can to help our state recover and grow stronger.”

H.740 appropriates $8.126 billion across all funds, and with $178 million allocated in related bills, state appropriations for Fiscal Year 2023, which begins on July 1, total $8.304 billion.

New investments funded through H.740 and other bills, include:

• Workforce: $66 million to train, retain and recruit more workers.
• Tax Relief: $40 million in tax relief for Vermonters.
• Broadband: $96 million to continue the state’s work to make broadband available to all Vermonters.
• Climate Change Mitigation: $225 million for initiatives that will help reduce carbon emissions, including investments in weatherization and to help transition to electric vehicles and more efficient home heating solutions, as well as fund to help make communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
• Water, Sewer and Stormwater Infrastructure: $104 million to improve and expand water infrastructure that will support economic growth, ensure clean drinking water, help families replace failed systems and more.
• Economic Development: $87 million for initiatives that will help retain jobs, support businesses and strengthen communities.
• Housing: $90 million to increase and improve rental housing, build more homes for middle-income Vermonters, help families exit homelessness and more.  

Additionally, this budget includes more funding to support Vermonters and healthy and safe communities, including $8.1 million more to respond to the opioid and addiction epidemic, $3.9 million more for childcare subsidies, $2.4 million for mobile crisis response and suicide prevention, and $11 million to address public safety dispatch services.

These investments are on top of many other new initiatives as well as traditional, ongoing funding for state programs and services to protect the vulnerable; roads, bridges and infrastructure; and state government operations to serve Vermonters.

“In January, I presented a budget that prioritized workers, kids and communities and made investments to make sure Vermonters got the most value out of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented by historic levels of federal aid and state surpluses,” said Governor Phil Scott. “While we will never agree on every issue, I am grateful to the Legislature – and the leadership and collaboration with committee chairs – to build consensus and find compromise to pass a budget that will move us closer to a more prosperous future for all regions of our state.”

Full details on the bill can be found, here.