| 1 | 1 | | BILL AS INTRODUCED H.437 |
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| 2 | 2 | | 2025 Page 1 of 5 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | VT LEG #379958 v.1 |
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| 6 | 6 | | H.437 1 |
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| 7 | 7 | | Introduced by Representative Burrows of West Windsor 2 |
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| 8 | 8 | | Referred to Committee on 3 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Date: 4 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Subject: Commerce and trade; housing; residential building codes 5 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to establish a 6 |
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| 12 | 12 | | study committee to examine implementation of statewide universal design 7 |
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| 13 | 13 | | standards for residential buildings. 8 |
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| 14 | 14 | | An act relating to establishing a study committee to examine universal 9 |
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| 15 | 15 | | design standards for residential buildings 10 |
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| 16 | 16 | | It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11 |
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| 17 | 17 | | Sec. 1. RESIDENTIAL UNIVERSAL DESIGN STANDARDS ; STUDY 12 |
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| 18 | 18 | | COMMITTEE; REPORT 13 |
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| 19 | 19 | | (a) Creation. There is created the Residential Universal Design Study 14 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Committee to explore implementation of statewide universal design standards 15 |
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| 21 | 21 | | for all residential buildings. 16 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (b) Membership. The Committee shall be composed of the following 17 |
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| 23 | 23 | | members: 18 |
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| 24 | 24 | | (1) one member of the House of Representatives, who shall be 19 |
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| 25 | 25 | | appointed by the Speaker of the House; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.437 |
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| 26 | 26 | | 2025 Page 2 of 5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | |
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| 28 | 28 | | |
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| 29 | 29 | | VT LEG #379958 v.1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) one member of the Senate, who shall be appointed by the Committee 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | on Committees; 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (3) one member, appointed by the Vermont Builders and Remodelers 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | Association; 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (4) one member, appointed by the Vermont Chapter of the American 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Institute of Architects; 6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (5) the Director of Fire Safety of designee; 7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (6) one member of the Vermont Access Board, appointed by the Chair; 8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (7) one member, appointed by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency; 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (8) one member, appointed by the Vermont Housing Conservation 10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | Board; 11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (9) one member, appointed by the Housing & Homelessness Alliance of 12 |
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| 42 | 42 | | Vermont; 13 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (10) one member, appointed by the Vermont Center for Independent 14 |
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| 44 | 44 | | Living; 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (11) one member, appointed by the Vermont Developmental Disabilities 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Council; 17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (12) one member of the Land Access and Opportunity Board; 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (13) one member, appointed by the American Association of Retired 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | Persons Vermont; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.437 |
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| 50 | 50 | | 2025 Page 3 of 5 |
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| 51 | 51 | | |
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| 52 | 52 | | |
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| 53 | 53 | | VT LEG #379958 v.1 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (14) the Commissioner of Housing and Community Development or 1 |
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| 55 | 55 | | designee; 2 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (15) one member, appointed by the NeighborWorks of Western 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | Vermont; 4 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (16) one member, appointed by the Vermont Mortgage Bankers 5 |
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| 59 | 59 | | Association; 6 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (17) one member, appointed by the Vermont Bankers Association; 7 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (18) one member, appointed by the Association of Vermont Credit 8 |
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| 62 | 62 | | Unions; 9 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (19) one member, appointed by the Vermont Leagues of Cities and 10 |
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| 64 | 64 | | Towns; 11 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (20) one member, appointed by the Vermont Assessors and Listers 12 |
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| 66 | 66 | | Association; 13 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (21) one member, appointed by the Vermont Association of Realtors; 14 |
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| 68 | 68 | | and 15 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (22) one member, appointed by ADA Inspections Nationwide, LLC. 16 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (c) Powers and duties. The Committee shall study the development and 17 |
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| 71 | 71 | | implementation of statewide universal design standards for residential 18 |
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| 72 | 72 | | buildings, including identification and analysis of the following issues: 19 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (1) existing federal and state laws regarding Americans with Disabilities 20 |
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| 74 | 74 | | Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213, standards and building codes; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.437 |
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| 75 | 75 | | 2025 Page 4 of 5 |
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| 77 | 77 | | |
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| 78 | 78 | | VT LEG #379958 v.1 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (2) existing federal, state, and international best practices and standards 1 |
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| 80 | 80 | | addressing accessibility and adaptability characteristics of single-family and 2 |
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| 81 | 81 | | multiunit buildings; 3 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (3) opportunities and challenges for supporting the residential building 4 |
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| 83 | 83 | | industry in meeting universal design standards, including considerations of 5 |
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| 84 | 84 | | workforce education and training; 6 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (4) cost benefits and impacts of adopting a universal design standard for 7 |
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| 86 | 86 | | residential buildings; 8 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (5) opportunities and challenges with enforcement of identified 9 |
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| 88 | 88 | | standards; and 10 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (6) impacts to the valuation and financing of impacted buildings. 11 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (d) Assistance. The Committee shall have the administrative, technical, 12 |
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| 91 | 91 | | and legal assistance of the Office of Legislative Counsel and the Joint Fiscal 13 |
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| 92 | 92 | | Office. 14 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (e) Report. On or before November 1, 2025, the Committee shall submit a 15 |
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| 94 | 94 | | written report to the House Committee on General and Housing and the Senate 16 |
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| 95 | 95 | | Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs with its 17 |
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| 96 | 96 | | findings and any recommendations for legislative action. 18 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (f) Meetings. 19 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (1) The member of the House of Representatives shall call the first 20 |
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| 99 | 99 | | meeting of the Committee to occur on or before June 1, 2025. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.437 |
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| 100 | 100 | | 2025 Page 5 of 5 |
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| 102 | 102 | | |
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| 103 | 103 | | VT LEG #379958 v.1 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (2) The Committee shall select a chair from among its members at the 1 |
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| 105 | 105 | | first meeting. 2 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (3) A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum. 3 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (4) The Committee shall cease to exist on December 1, 2025. 4 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (g) Compensation and reimbursement. For attendance at meetings during 5 |
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| 109 | 109 | | adjournment of the General Assembly, a legislative member of the Committee 6 |
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| 110 | 110 | | serving in the member’s capacity as a legislator shall be entitled to per diem 7 |
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| 111 | 111 | | compensation and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 2 V.S.A. § 23 for 8 |
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| 112 | 112 | | not more than six meetings. These payments shall be made from monies 9 |
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| 113 | 113 | | appropriated to the General Assembly. 10 |
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| 114 | 114 | | (h) Appropriation. The sum of $200,000.00 is appropriated from the 11 |
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| 115 | 115 | | General Fund in fiscal year 2026 for per diem compensation and 12 |
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| 116 | 116 | | reimbursement of expenses for members of the Committee and to engage the 13 |
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| 117 | 117 | | services of one or more experts as necessary to assist the Committee in its 14 |
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| 118 | 118 | | work pursuant to this section. 15 |
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| 119 | 119 | | Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 16 |
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| 120 | 120 | | This act shall take effect on passage. 17 |
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