Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Investment Bill Committee Vote Expected

House Agriculture Committee Expected to Vote Bill Out Tuesday

The Vermont House Agriculture Committee is expected to vote on the Working Lands Enterprise Investment bill (H.496) on Tuesday. The committee is scheduled to have final discussions on the bill this morning, with a vote expected this afternoon. The bill creates the Working Lands Enterprise Fund and the Working Lands Enterprise Board, which will oversee the Fund. The intent is to enhance economic development in the agriculture and forest product sectors by recognizing the similarities and unique qualities of these sectors, as well as to co-ordinate and integrate financial products and programs, as well as policy and land use decisions that support the people and businesses that depend on Vermont’s renewable land-based natural resources and the sustainable and productive use of the land.

WHAT: Committee Vote
WHO: House Agriculture Committee
WHEN: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 (vote expected in the afternoon) **
WHERE: Vermont Statehouse – Room 31
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Committee discussion, vote

**House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Will Stevens will be giving an update on the bill with Rep. Paul Ralston to the House Commerce Committee at 9 AM also.

More information about the bill is availalbe here: http://vtworkinglands.org/programs/policy-councils/working-landscape/bill This site will be updated with the final version of the bill as soon as it is available.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is also working on the bill (S.246) and has hearings scheduled all week.

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The Vermont Working Landscape Partnership (VWLP) is a non‐partisan and broad‐based effort to support local agriculture and forestry, grow and attract farm and forest entrepreneurs, and conserve Vermont’s Working Landscape far into the future. The Partnership’s members believe that all Vermonters benefit from the state’s working landscape and everyone should contribute to ensure its future.