Executive Order No. 32-8 (No. 07-09) [Designation of State of Vermont as a Recovery Zone under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act]
WHEREAS, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub.L. No. 111-5, (hereinafter
“ARRA”) amended the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (hereinafter the “Code”) to authorize
state and local governments to issue Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds and
Recovery Zone Facility Bonds (hereinafter together referred to as “Recovery Zone Bonds”);
and
WHEREAS, the Code established bond volume limitations, or caps, on the issuance of
Recovery Zone Bonds and allocated those volume caps among the states to counties and
large municipalities within each State based upon population and relative declines
in employment in 2008; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service allocated Vermont’s share
of the Recovery Zone Bond volume caps to the State and sub-allocated the caps among
11 Vermont counties; and
WHEREAS, the Assistant Judges in 9 of those 11 counties, pursuant to their authority,
have waived their counties’ respective allocations and re-allocated their share of
volume caps to the State of Vermont; and
WHEREAS, on October 14, 2009, the State of Vermont Emergency Board, pursuant to its
authority to allocate private activity volume cap among bond issuing instrumentalities
of the State, will consider allocating all Recovery Zone Facility Bonds’ volume cap
waived by the counties to the Vermont Economic Development Authority, an instrumentality
of the State of Vermont; and
WHEREAS, in October, 2009, the Joint Fiscal Committee of the Vermont General Assembly,
pursuant to its authority, will consider approving the Governor’s allocation of the
Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds’ volume cap waived by the counties to the
Vermont Municipal Bond Bank, an instrumentality of the State of Vermont, and to the
State of Vermont should there be capacity not used by the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank;
and
WHEREAS, the purpose of Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds is to promote economic
activity through expenditures that promote development or other economic activity
in a recovery zone designated as such by the county or State, as applicable, that
is the recipient of volume cap; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Recovery Zone Facility Bonds is to finance property used
in the active conduct of a trade or business in a recovery zone; and
WHEREAS, Recovery Zone Bonds are a significant resource to the State of Vermont and
will stimulate economic activity, increase employment opportunities and mitigate the
effects of the national recession; and
WHEREAS, the Code requires that all Recovery Zone Bonds be issued prior to January
1, 2011 and it is imperative that recovery zones in Vermont be designated as soon
as possible to ensure that Vermont and Vermonters realize the full benefit of the
bonds; and
WHEREAS, the Code defines a recovery zone, among other things, as an area designated
by the issuer as having significant poverty, unemployment, rate of home foreclosures,
or general distress; and
WHEREAS, unemployment in Vermont has nearly doubled statewide during the current downturn
and every county of the state has suffered at least a doubling of unemployment since
2007 leading to significant general distress; and
WHEREAS, 28% of Vermonters work outside their county of residence and new jobs created
anywhere in the state will significantly benefit those impacted by the recession;
and
WHEREAS, projected state general fund revenues for FY2010 are 15% below actual revenues
in FY2008 and are, in fact, less than actual FY2005 revenues and this severe impact
on state revenues will be mitigated by development and construction anywhere in the
state; and
WHEREAS, there is no area of Vermont that has not been significantly impacted by the
recession and it is urgent to address both the problems of unemployment and declining
revenues in Vermont.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, James H. Douglas, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor,
do hereby designate the entire State of Vermont as a recovery zone under the Code
as amended by ARRA. This designated recovery zone shall pertain to any Recovery Zone
Bonds issued by the State of Vermont, the Vermont Economic Development Authority,
the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank, and any other instrumentality of the State that may
later receive an allocation of Recovery Zone Bond volume caps from the State.
This Executive Order shall take effect upon signing.
Dated October 9, 2009.