House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development

 

AGENDA

 

Room 35 and Zoom

January 6, 2026 - January 9, 2026

Last Updated 1/9/2026 1:53 PM

 

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are livestreamed at

https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/house-commerce-and-economic-development.

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

9:30 AM                   Committee Discussion

Discussion and Introduction to Committee's Legislative Interns

Cabot Sayles, UVM Legislative Intern

Bailey Davis, Norwich Legislative Intern

 

10:00 AM                   House Floor and Caucuses

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Convention Center

Discussion on Convention Center Report.

Austin Davis, Director, Government Affairs, Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce

Jeff Lawson, Vice-Pres. Tourism & Marketing, Hello Vermont, Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce

 

1:30 PM                   Break

 

2:00 PM                   Introduction and Franchises Report

Joe Valenti, Director of Policy, Department of Financial Regulation

Kaj Samsom, Commissioner, Department of Financial Regulation

 

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

9:05 AM                   Housing Lending Discussion

Joan Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer, Vermont Economic Development Authority

Maura Collins, Executive Director, Vermont Housing Finance Agency

 

10:20 AM                   Common Good Vermont

Emma Paradis, Common Good Vermont Co-Director, United Way of Northwest Vermont

Jesse Bridges, Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Northwest Vermont

Connor Daley, Riverland Strategies

Sharon Lifschutz, Director of Development, Lund Center

Liz Gamache, President & CEO, Lund Center

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Registered Apprenticeship Program Report

Kendal Smith, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Labor

Jay Ramsey, Director of Workforce Development, Vermont Department of Labor

Chris Winters, Deputy Commisioner, Vermont Department of Labor

Rowan Hawthorne, Policy and Legislative Affairs Director, Vermont Department of Labor

Cindy Robillard, Workforce Development Division Assistant Director, Vermont Department of Labor

Sarah Knight, Senior Program Administrator for Apprenticeship, Vermont Department of Labor

 

2:00 PM                   Governor's State of the State Address

 

3:00 PM                   House Floor

 

Thursday, January 8, 2026

9:00 AM                   H. 211 - An act relating to data brokers and personal information

Walk-through

Rik Sehgal, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

10:10 AM                   Break

 

10:30 AM                   Sister State Report

Tim Tierney, Director of Recruitment and International Trade, Agency of Commerce and Community Development

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Non-Competes Report

Chris D'Elia, President, Vermont Bankers' Association

Rep. Herb Olson, Representative, House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development

 

2:00 PM                   Legislative Study on Data Management Models

Sabina Haskell, Executive Director, Office of Workforce Strategy and Development

Drake Turner, Deputy Director, Office of Workforce Development and Strategy

Josiah Raiche, Director, Artificial Intelligence Division, Agency of Digital Services

 

3:00 PM                   House Floor

 

Friday, January 9, 2026

9:00 AM                   Legislative Interns Report

Report from Committee's Legislative Interns

Cabot Sayles, UVM Legislative Intern

Bailey Davis, Norwich Legislative Intern

 

9:30 AM                   House Floor

 

15 Minutes After the Floor                   H. 512 - An act relating to the regulation of the event ticketing market

Susan Evans McClure, Executive Director, Vermont Arts Council

Kevin Sweeney, Director of Marketing and Sales, The Flynn

Todd Daloz, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Attorney General's Office

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Community Housing Infrastructure Program

Joint Hearing with the House Committee on General and Housing and the House Committee on Ways and Means from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. in Room 11 of the State House. This will be livestreamed from the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development's YouTube.

Jessica Hartleben, Executive Director, Vermont Economic Progress Council

Alex Farrell, Commissioner, Department of Housing and Community Development

Jon Gray, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

Josh Hanford, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Vermont League of Cities and Towns

Bob Flint, Executive Director, Springfield Regional Development Corporation

Miro Weinberger, Executive Chairperson, Let's Build Homes

 

ATTENTION WITNESSES

 

Please email handouts to the committee assistant at least 24 hours before your scheduled meeting time. With few exceptions, any documents you send to a committee assistant are open to the public and may be posted to the committee’s web page.

 

Should you require accessibility services, please click here and note that requests should be made 48 hours in advance of testimony.

 

 

 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact

 Annagrace Oblak at Annagrace.Oblak@vtleg.gov