Farm and Forest law, H.496

When first reading H.495, legislators gulped at the twenty-seven 'findings' section followed by no less than nine legislative 'intents'. Readers will recall H.496 is the Working Lands Enterprise Investment law which has received so much attention from the press lately. Most of the findings and intents came from comments made by Vermonters closely involved in agricultural economy and from those who are knowledgeable about economic development.

Vermont Representatives Will Stevens, Tess Taylor, Mollie Burke and I were the four original sponsors of H496. We all worked very hard move it through the House, with lots of help from Franklin County Representatives Norm McAllister and Dick Howrigan and also Rep. Dick Lawrence and House Agriculture Chair Rep. Carolyn Partridge. Many days were spent in the House Agriculture Committee working on the language of the bill. We had support from my longtime friends and colleagues Senator Sara Kittell and Senator Vince Illuzzi, who both had sponsored it in the Senate. The new law would not have survived without the extremely capable help of Paul Costello from Vermont Council on Rural Development (why did we ever let this guy leave Franklin County?) and tireless work of Amy Schollenberger. And of course, from the start we benefited from strong support of Governor Shumlin.

The new law strengthens Vermont’s working landscape by providing technical and financial support for the agriculture, forestry and value-added business sectors. The bill creates the Working Lands Enterprise Fund and Board to stimulate the economic development of these sectors. The new law advances agricultural and forest based entrepreneurism, business development and job creation, all much needed statewide but especially here in Franklin County. The bill does not give 'handouts'. It sets up opportunities for agriculture and forest industries to flourish, making the most of Vermont's good name and using our agricultural heritage to connect with the mandate of economic development. This law is a sensible way to use the resources we have already in state to bring in capital from outside to help Vermonters.

The creation and support of this bill is textbook like illustration of how concerted bi-partisan effort can join to turn a good idea into a new law that will really help Vermonters. I am proud of this bill. It is one of the most valuable pieces of legislation to be signed into law during my ten years of legislative service.

If you want to know more about this bill, contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia