 Good afternoon. Today I want to focus on an issue that's been talked about a lot over the past several months and one that I've said needs to be a priority for the last five years and that's housing. As you might remember in my first year in office I worked with the legislature to pass a 37 million dollar housing bond which leveraged another 198 million in additional resources making it the single largest investment in state history at that time in housing. But even then we knew there was more work to do. That's why after the American Rescue Plan was passed last year I made it clear to the legislature that housing needs to be on the top of our list of priorities. Fortunately at that time they agreed and funded a portion of my request last year but it's important to get the rest of it to put it to work as soon as possible. So I asked for the balance which is 145 million more this session. This would bring our total investment over the last two years to about 250 million. Mr. Hanford will go into further detail in a few minutes but our proposals are focused on housing for working families and Vermonters including a creative new approach to fill what I call the missing middle because the fact is housing that middle income families can afford is practically non-existent and this is incredibly important to remember and it's money we actually needed yesterday which is why I asked that 70 million of this year's money be put in budget adjustment so it could be immediately dispersed. Unfortunately due to politics that didn't happen and the legislature moved the housing dollars into two separate bills and they're on a slow path to the finish line and won't get passed anytime soon. Even more concerning is it looks like they're putting policies into those housing bills that I previously vetoed. Two new government registries that I believe would reduce housing stock and also reduce the number of smaller home improvement contractors. Now as I said most legislators including legislative leaders have said they agree housing is a priority and a goal we all share. So now is the time for them to prove it and remove the poison pills they combined with the housing dollars they know I care deeply about and we desperately need. If this is truly a shared priority let's work together to get it done because Vermonters can't afford the political games when it comes to this issue in particular. If you read my veto letters on the two bills I return you'll see I offered a clear path forward on both of them. So again if we all agree that major investments in housing are needed let's pass a bill that includes the areas we agree on quickly so we can begin the work we need to do to make a real difference in Vermonters lives as well as to grow the economy. So with that I'll turn it over to Commissioner Hanford. Thank you Governor and good afternoon. I like everyone listening and watching to take a second and think about your housing situation. Maybe you're lucky and you can afford a home in your ideal community. Perhaps you're someone who's enjoying the rapid appreciation of your home's value. However that's not the case for far too many Vermonters. I bet if you asked 10 Vermonters about housing in the state 9 could tell you about a family member a friend a co-worker that is struggling to find an apartment to rent or a home to purchase in their price range. The data doesn't lie we have a housing availability and affordability problem in Vermont. The solution to the problem is clear build more housing fix the housing we have and don't leave any vulnerable neighbors behind. Fortunately thanks to billions in federal aid and strong state revenues we have a once in a generation opportunity to make a real difference. We have a chance to invest in our communities and correct the underinvestment in housing. The governor proposed a comprehensive strategic housing investment plan using 250 million dollars of the federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. Unfortunately three main parts of this plan have yet to be acted on by the legislature. We must reinvest and revitalize our currently underutilized housing stock. We know opportunities exist in our historic neighborhoods to provide the affordable housing we need by improving existing buildings through programs like the Vermont Housing Improvement Program or VHIP. Over 650 units have been brought forward by dozens of property owners across the state wanting to participate in this program but the additional funding that the governor has called for going all the way back to last November was stripped from the budget and attached to other policy bills that need more time and more discussion. We must also support reinvestment in our manufactured housing communities resulting in healthier more climate resilient homes for the historically underserved population in Vermont. Again the funding to address this non-controversial shared priority has been slowed by an unrelated controversial policy discussion in the legislature. It's important for people needing homes and living in these communities to know we currently have over 350 vacant mobile home lots that could be prepped and ready to receive energy efficient homes with this funding. We must also assist families whose incomes are just above the affordable housing income limits but are being priced out of the housing market the missing middle housing gap. A day doesn't go by without me hearing of the struggles of a teacher a nurse a skilled trade worker or a childcare provider unable to find a home they can afford to buy. These are central members of our communities filling essential jobs with nowhere to live without new programs to address the crisis and encourage the building of more modest homes Vermont's affordability and equity gap will only continue to grow. These proposed solutions have long been identified the programs work and we have wide support yet these tangible proposals that can make an immediate impact this construction season are being mired in legislative policy bills. Let's continue to have those important and needed policy conversations but we must move forward with what we agree on and allocate the federal funding to make it happen as soon as possible. I want to say one more time we all agree there's a crisis we have the money to confront it we have an agreement that the programs make an immediate impact now but also setting the table for transfer more transformational change needed to address housing growth in the future. Our friends and family members neighbors and communities are working to recover two years after dealing with the pandemic. Let's use the federal recovery dollars as they were intended to help for monitors and deliver the additional housing capacity they need. To make the most of this moment we must be more deliberate and we must act faster for monitor calling for more action and more help in this very real housing crisis. With that I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Levine. Thank you. Last week I spoke about changes to our testing program. You can now make an appointment to pick up a rapid take home test at many many sites around the state. Remember as we are faced with a highly transmissible variant of the virus getting that rapid result is critical to taking quick action if you do test positive. At this time PCR testing though is still available for those who need it. Testing is available to all but while virus transmission has decreased we recommend testing be focused on those specific situations where your risk is the highest. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or if you are a close contact and not vaccinated or not up to date on your vaccines. Now today I want to talk about another transition this time related to vaccine clinics. As you know Vermont has had a very robust program of offering vaccines around the state thanks to so many partners including EMS, National Guard, healthcare professionals, community and equity partners and more. Even after the initial vaccine rollout last spring just last spring hard to believe began to slow down we ramped up efforts again in the fall as boosters and vaccines for children became available. We offered regular standing clinics clinics at schools clinics at businesses equity clinics and brought the vaccine to people where they are through barnstorming and special events. We've led the nation in vaccination rates including for boosters and children vaccinated. This means the vast majority of Vermonters are highly protected from the most serious effects of COVID-19 our main goal in this pandemic. However our extensive efforts also mean most people have had plenty of opportunity to be vaccinated and that the use of our statewide vaccine clinics at the present time is very low. This gives us the opportunity to make getting your COVID-19 vaccine more like other vaccines that you can get from your healthcare provider or pharmacy. The COVID-19 vaccines have already been available in those settings. In fact primary care offices are the only place we're actually seeing a small increase in doses administered. As I've spoken about many times here before healthcare providers play a crucial role in being a trusted resource for patients who may have questions or just need reassurance from a medical professional. We're still awaiting more information on approval of a vaccine for the youngest Vermonters children six months to four years of age. But I do want parents and caregivers to know that when a vaccine is determined to be safe and effective for use their child will also be vaccinated through their pediatrician or family practitioner. This means when the time comes you will make an appointment through your clinician's office rather than through the health department registration system. I would like to thank all of our healthcare partners for their work to have these vaccines available for patients when they're ready to get vaccinated or boosted. For those who do not have a primary care clinician and for special populations we will continue to fill any gaps and work to ensure equitable access to vaccines through small community clinics. And as with everything in this changing pandemic if circumstances change we remain prepared to ramp up vaccination efforts if needed. And of course we're going to continue to promote vaccination and support our healthcare partners in this process. Now moving on we also continue to monitor any developments concerning the BA2 sub variant of Omicron both abroad and here in Vermont through genetic sequencing and wastewater surveillance. Unfortunately we cannot predict exactly how it will affect us yet. You already know that BA2 is a more contagious version of Omicron and we may indeed see an uptick in cases much like Europe has. However let me emphasize it is uncertain at this time if the US will see a slight surge in cases or just what I've been calling a prolonged tail to the epidemic curve of Omicron. So far that is exactly what we've been seeing in Vermont though it is still early. But like the original Omicron variant BA2 causes less severe illness in most people so rather than overall case counts hospitalizations will be a more meaningful measure of the impact here in Vermont and it has not impacted hospitalization at this time. While it shouldn't cause an increase in the rate of hospitalization because it's a more transmissible virus there could be more infections and consequently an increase in the absolute number of hospitalizations. We'll continue to watch that and remain prepared. We have plenty of testing and we have access to treatment for those at highest risk. All the early data shows vaccines may protect us from serious outcomes as well as they did against the first Omicron wave. So the best and most important way to be prepared is to make sure you're up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines. That means anyone age five or older has their two shots and anyone age 12 and older gets their booster. I want to dwell on this for one second because I hope that Vermonters 65 and older especially will hear and heed this message since they do face greater risk from this virus. According to our dashboard the percentage of 65 to 69 year olds who are up to date is 79 percent for 70 to 74 year olds 87 percent and for 75 and older 84 percent. Now these percentages are very high highest in the country but when it comes to getting that booster shot they need to be even higher. It's just not worth taking the chance of getting really sick. Please don't risk it just take those easy steps to be up to date on your vaccinations. So whether it's at your doctor's office at a pharmacy or at one of the many clinics that we still have scheduled through the month of April find a booster shot for you or a loved one if they still need it. Visit healthvermont.gov slash my vaccine. I'll turn it back to the governor. Thanks Dr. Levine. We'll now open it up to questions. Governor what do you think of the auditor's report about the overpayment of some healthcare providers? Well you know we'll see. I haven't looked at the report in depth but obviously we were working in the initial phases of the pandemic to make sure that we were protecting Vermonters and make sure that we had enough resources available to keep hospitals and providers afloat. So I think we made the best decisions possible at that point in time. I look forward to going through the report and I know our team will go through that and and see if there's any deficiencies but at the end of the day I think we made the right decisions. On a lighter note how's your road? Our road is fine which is surprising. I mean I saw on some of the news reports where they're they're impacted more in areas like I know up in the middle sex area. Portal Road has quite it's challenged in Roxbury as well and across the state in different different places but but ours and we've been you know in years past it's difficult to get through during mud season. But this year for some reason they've been upgrading some and it just hasn't impacted our road hardly at all. I mean it's muddy but not that bad. I just had a question for you if we could get you over here in front of the microphone. Bob's new here so that's what we usually do. Oh okay good good. I appreciate it. I was going to walk slowly. Oh okay. I'm wondering you know there are going to be some people listening to your talking about the BA2 variant who are going to be thinking uh-oh here we go again. Could you put it in perspective for us? Absolutely. So as you know the United States is usually later in the game as the virus travels across the planet. So we have experience from countries like China, cities like Hong Kong where they've had pretty much a zero COVID policy and approach the virus very differently and their population has a very very low rate of previous infection. So we're seeing outbreaks occurring in those places at sometimes very extraordinary numbers. Then we have Europe which I'll sort of divide into sort of the mainland continent especially the Scandinavian countries where we're seeing a lot of cases but not a lot of serious outcomes. The UK sort of uniquely is seeing a lot of cases another surge if you will also with more hospitalizations but most of the rest of that area has not been seeing the same increase in hospitalizations. Then we come to the United States where the northeast and the west seem to have the earliest signs of more concentrations of the BA2 and what's happening here is we're seeing it as a higher percentage of the whole genome sequencing that's being done. So literally an hour or two before this meeting the CDC came out with this week's estimates around the country using data from previous weeks and New England is now 55% BA2. Last week it was about 38%. Week before it was way below 20. So it's certainly exhibiting a doubling rate if you will like you would expect a highly transmissible variant and it is 1.4 to 1.6 times more transmissible than the original Omicron. So we're seeing that at the same time the cases continue to either go down or plateau in these regions. So even though it's a higher percentage of what they're sequencing it's not like it's taken off into a whole surge at this point in time. But that's why I tell people to exercise caution because we're early in that game and we need to see how it plays out over these next several weeks. But right now I'm certainly not saying there's a need for panic a need for concern about oh I've seen this movie before and it's happening right before my eyes again because it may not be. We may have in the United States enough people who've actually gotten vaccinated and or gotten Omicron that this impact won't be felt as significantly. You also mentioned the importance of older people people over 65 being fully vaccinating and having the booster. What about a fourth shot? There's a lot of talk about this time for folks to be considering a fourth shot. Where does that stand? In this country it stands here. Number one Moderna and Pfizer have both submitted data to the FDA that they think supports using a fourth shot. Much of their data is coming from some Israeli studies and from one CDC study that showed a slight decrease in prevention of serious outcomes in the Omicron era. But it wasn't a huge drop. Keep that in mind. Most people who are considered vaccine experts in the country are saying we don't need to rush to a fourth shot right now. We should evaluate this data that's been submitted. We should give it a fair hearing. The advisory panel to the FDA will look at it and make a recommendation which is probably weeks away. And then if needed the CDC's advisory panel will do the same thing. But right now no one is saying a fourth shot is what's needed to do anything at this point. And more people are talking about just having an annual booster shot like you would for the flu. To ask about the housing proposal, maybe I can get a picture of hand burns opinion on this. But you referenced and I believe it's the contractor registry bill that is attached to the right. There's two bills and we're just one of them. It's passed out of the Senate. It's over in the house and it has the contractor registry. The other bill we're hearing could have the rental registry on it. So those are the two bills. You refer to those both of them. Yes, you refer to those as the poison pill. Should the legislature move forward with these two separate proposals even though they have the missing middle money? I mean what would you lead to that? Well again I think I made it very clear that I don't like the contractor registry. I think it's harmful to contractors and to the overall supply of homes and so forth. I feel the same way about the rental registry. And in my veto letters I laid out a clear path forward. Here are the conditions just like I did with the gun bill. You know I laid out the position that I have and here's what you can do if you want to pass this. So I laid that out so they have the ability to fix those two bills to get them to the point where I would accept them. Otherwise they have another path and that's to override. I mean they've overridden other bills I vetoed so they have the numbers. They can do that. They don't have to mix the two in order to play the political game as far as I see it to get those passed. They can take the other approach. You know work with me on getting to where I think it needs to go to get my acceptance and approval or override it. Those are the two paths. They don't have to play the games. I guess in my discussion with lawmakers on both of those bills they kind of see it in the opposite direction. I can imagine that they believe it will help create housing and create more opportunities for renters. So I guess again you know you think about I think about the small mom and pops and it's the same with the small mom and pop contractors as well. Those are the people it's going to hurt. It's not going to hurt the large contractors. It's not going to hurt those who have rentals for business. That's not going to impact them. But it is going to harm the smaller again. Take the contractors in particular the small one or two person crews. We're just adding another level of government bureaucracy on them. Another insurance policy they have to have and all kinds of conditions that they have to follow. And pretty soon they're just going to say look I'm not interested in doing your porch. I'm not interested in doing your kitchen renovation. I'm not interested in doing that. I'm just going to go work for somebody else. It's a lot easier. And those bigger contractors who especially with all the money we have flowing right now they're not interested in doing your porch or doing your roof or painting your house or doing the renovation inside your kitchen. They're not going to do it. So we're going to have a void there. And so that's the contract right. The other part is all the folks we know we pay an enormous amount of money in the state for property taxes. I mean that's that's not a secret here in Vermont. So some people when they feel that they need to supplement their income. So they rent out a portion of their home or or they rent out their home for maybe the winter if they weather in Florida after retirement before they come back. And this again it precludes them because of the the regulation that comes along with it. And I think at some point they just say it's not worth the bother. I'm just not going to do it. So I think it does impact both housing stock and the available labor in order to do everything that we need to have done. It doesn't take long. I mean think about I think initially it was 2500 was the level for the contractors. It may have been bumped up but but that's you know that's a day's worth of work because that includes materials. That's not just that's this not labor that's an equipment that's that's materials. So it doesn't take long these days to get over that threshold. Bob I just wanted to go back as well when you asked Dr. Levine the question. I just want to make sure from the very beginning we we keep track of hospitalizations right. So when you're talking about this next variant we are obviously watching the hospitalizations and we haven't seen that it's increased dramatically. And and as well we've seen over the last few weeks where half of those who are hospitalized are there for something else and they just found out that they have a COVID. So again we're not seeing anything that gives us a great concern at this point in time. Speaking about bills that you're not fond of how about the clean heat standard. Could you see yourself signing that bill? The clean heat standard it would depend on how they move forward. As I've said this is the one that they're putting is being transferred for the tough work to be done by the PUC right the public utility commission. So they're they're from my standpoint advocating their position their authority and letting someone else do the dirty work so to speak. And and from that standpoint that's my problem. Like if that were to just come back to the legislature for an up or down vote after they get done their work then I could see myself making something work. But but if they're just going to again they're not just advocating their authority they're advocating mine as well because I get one vote in the end on these bills. And and if this impacts has a dramatic effect on Vermonters and their livelihood then I would have no reason to support them. But not knowing what they're going to do in the PUC process I just can't make that judgment beforehand. So I think they should have that come back. If they were to add that then maybe we can make that work. Governor San Misery here with local 22 news with Canada like slightly easing restrictions with you know no longer requiring COVID tests. How do you believe that can affect I guess the Vermont economy and businesses? Well I think in some respects we're seeing you know the economy is rebounding. I think people are getting back more accustomed to taking care of themselves we've been through this for two years now it's not new and they're taking this this approach and and again I think that it will help in some respects when you think about the number of travelers tourists and so forth that come into our state we'll see we'll see more activity. But again as we've said the COVID's not gone it's subsided and there'll be this variant and new variants in the future and we just have to learn how we deal with that making sure that we protect ourselves when we're and others when we're sick and tests when necessary on our own. That will be anything you want to add to that? Just an observation. I'm fond of trying to figure out who's doing what when I'm out in society and my latest this is very rough estimates when I've been in supermarket and other stores is a quarter to a third of people still were wearing masks. Now that's a minority by definition but to me that's a significant number of people so I think people are using the guidance that we provided appropriately and doing what they're comfortable with if it's going without a mask or going with a mask but they're out there and that's the important thing they're engaging in life they're not staying home. Calvin you'd ask that question before and you said it was for both myself and and Commissioner Hanford but so I'll let Commissioner Hanford weigh in as well. Thanks Governor thanks Calvin you know when I talk to to folks out there that are looking for housing whether it's rental or to purchase a home the first thing to tell me is not that they're looking for two registries to help them find that home or you know they want housing built they want to find a place to live that they can afford in their community and that's what we're focused on you know it's getting more choice for housing that really makes a difference for people whether you know it's it's not safe or it's not available in their community if they have choice of housing a lot of these problems are solved and that's what we're focused on like a laser is building more housing. Is well announced that they're starting to take up interest rates to try to cool down some of the demand how do you see that playing out with our housing market? Well sure their interest rates on mortgages are starting to go up that's an added cost to to Vermonters but right now I think it's a lack of supply that most most of the challenges that I hear you know financing that mortgage over 30 years those interest rates certainly have an impact on their their mortgage and their monthly payments but when they can't find a home it's hard to worry about that problem first we need to to build more homes and something that folks can find. Last week I asked you about the congressional loss of COVID funding and you said you had kind of just heard about it from the White House call now that maybe you've had a little time to hear more do you have a better understanding of how it's going to impact Vermon and if there's anything you can do to kind of help with that? We're okay for right now but but I would say I know that they're focused on this now and every response I've seen has been about the lack of the ability of the feds to continue to provide testing and vaccines and so forth so I would say it's an issue that is going to have an effect on us possibly down the road and the not too distant future so I think that they should come together and provide more funding because as I've said it's it's not as though this is over we're going to see variants in the future and and I know we have to transition to this endemic stage where just like the flu we have to somewhat take care of ourselves but it's still a role for the government to play but we do have you know over this period of time there is the pharmacies are playing a role on the insurance companies are playing a role so it's not as though the government has to provide it for in perpetuity but there might be a transition period that needs to be the tail needs to be a little bit longer yeah well my understanding is that uninsured people are going to be the most heavily affected by this and also that uninsured people are less likely to have like a primary care provider or regular physician that they see so are you concerned about this kind of loss of funding coinciding with these changes we're making to the vaccine clinics and testing centers yeah again I think we we still have those in place and because it's subsided the the pandemic has subsided we're not seeing the need thankfully as well in this state we have a high percentage of of those who have insurance we don't have as many that don't have insurance so I still believe that we can fulfill their need but but again in the next few weeks we there needs to be a maybe a point to drop off a little bit more easily than what is was contemplated in congress at this point in time so I'm sure they'll work it out the I think the administration the Biden administration is seen this as an issue and and they're fairly dogmatic and and I believe that they'll come to some reasonable conclusion I mean they still have it's it seems as though they I mean they still have the majority in the house in the house representatives and at least a one person margin in the in the senate so it seems like they could get something done maybe a better question for dr. Levine or even samuelson if she's online but can you give us any numbers of how clinics would be affected like is there going to be like a 50 drop in the number of clinics each week or going from 100 to 75 something that would kind of go to the scale yeah secretary samuelson did you hear the question and are you on the line difficult time hearing the question this was about the number of clinics that are being dropped over the next month and so forth as we transition out of testing and vaccine is that was that the question erin so governor the only thing I have to add is exactly what you said we're looking very closely at the numbers and the individuals who are getting tested and vaccinated we're also looking at the availability of testing and vaccines in each community really striving to ensure that individuals have the opportunity to get tested or vaccinated within a 30 minute drive of of their home again looking at clint primary care clinics and federally qualified health centers and pharmacies really forming that backbone of going forward thank you obviously not issue just limited to vermont like states across the nation have seemed like obviously rising gas prices you know is there any message that you have to vermonters dealing with the challenging you know increasing gas prices and anything that your administration is doing to try and help vermonters yeah this is uh this is again a national problem a worldwide problem at this point gas prices affect very regressive affect our state dramatically because we're so rural people have to travel a long distance in order to get to work so as well this has a ratcheting effect inflationary effect on everyday goods and services so it it does impact all of us we we need to do whatever we can we're we're trying to promote public transportation as well for those who who can and we would encourage anyone to carpool when they can as well but this again is nothing that we can fix on the on our level i know some of uh there's been a couple of states who have eliminated their their gas tax but it you know and we could do that here with the with the help of the legislature but that's not a long-term solution and it doesn't really you know we're talking about 28 cents something of that i think it's 28 cents that doesn't do it i mean that's that would be helpful but that would preclude us from leveraging using that money to leverage projects as well in the future so we're going to need a national solution on this does that mean you don't want them i mean you said it's eliminating the gas tax is not a long-term solution but is it a possible short-term solution well i don't know as it would make that big a difference you know again is 28 cents going to do it and and it can't go for very long because we we count on that money for our infrastructure or plowing all our needs so i don't know what we would backfill it with we'd have to backfill it with something so it's not that it's off the table it's just that i don't see this long-term solution unless we find money that we can backfill the transportation fund with all right we'll move to the phone starting with tom davis compass from on thanks jason governor you mentioned $2,500 is being a drop in the bucket for a multi-construction process these days is there a threshold where you would think that you might consider signing for contractor registration i mean it would be $10,000 or something higher than that i actually put that in the veto letter and it was uh i believe $10,000 was the what i had suggested and that was that would get me to a point where i would feel as though i would let it go through okay thank you uh one more question uh we spoke in the fall at your conference um about an evaluation of the cooling systems at all of the schools which was about to be be undertaken uh so that you could see what will need to be done to make sure as it gets warmer in the spring that schools will not be intolerable do you know where the progress is on on that evaluation process i don't know i mean uh maybe maybe secretary french is on the line and can you answer that further but it's it's more uh not just a c but it's hvac everything we need to make sure that we're moving air through the buildings if we learn anything from from the pandemic is that we need better circulating air in any infrastructure any projects of that nature in any congregate settings so that's where we'd focus secretary french uh yes governor yeah i would agree uh you know the focus is really on the door air quality which is the intersection of a lot of policy work and the meditation work so for example we have as you know the initiative on pcb testing and remediation also rate on testing both of those areas intersect with indoor air quality there's been a lot of hvac work commissioned already as a result of the pandemic so really what we're trying to do now is pull all these emissions together and put them on a overarching project schedule for schools that's doable it's going to take a couple years for sure we also have some assessment not necessarily on cooling but we have a facilities inventory report that'll be coming in soon and then there's a larger assessment scheduled under act 72 of last year that needs to occur as well so we'll be starting to get more information about schools but not necessarily just focused on cooling and totally understand will that information be available to the public when you when you make these first determination yeah sure we have the first draft of the inventory report and looking at this week we'll be reporting that back to general assembly the whole intention of that was the sort of set the groundwork for future policy deliberations and similarly with the larger assessment those those tools will be used to formulate the policies on school construction and facilities improvement over time okay thank you both i have no further questions thanks as always thank you chris roey newport daily express yes good afternoon um so far the housing crisis i'm wondering if there's any area of a mod that you're particularly concerned about than another and i guess i'm thinking up here in the northeast kingdom yeah i mean i mean we suffer from a housing crisis across the state uh but you know in particular the northeast kingdom but but it you know it's really all sectors as it doesn't matter where we are it seems like there is a need for housing in every every sector mr hamper yep that helps thank you thank you sure i would just add to that you know there's a housing crisis you know across the state but but the needs are different and the solutions are different in different regions some parts of the state have housing stock it's just unoccupied it's tired it needs reinvestment and uh we have vacant units out there believe it or not despite the the housing shortage we have and that's why programs like vhip and others that reinvest in those properties bring them back online make them energy efficient you know address so many goals it's smart growth it's climate change and it's investing in neighborhoods and improving the quality of life for everyone that that lives near those homes that are brought back online and and some of those opportunities exist in some of our our towns in the northeast kingdom and other parts uh ruttland and bennington and springfield and so it's a it's a diverse uh set of needs and a diverse set of solutions but every corner has a housing challenge okay thank thank you greg sequentik bennington banner thank you governor um if you related to housing is um the uh general assistance program um and whether there's a way to avoid to put more money forward to um construct some housing that would eliminate the need for for some folks to have to participate in the general assistance program on a regular basis is uh is that part of your proposal and uh is that is that money also in there or is that and can you sort of bring us up to speed on where that is because i know that was part of the budget adjustment act yeah i'll uh i'll let commissioner handford come up and explain what we've done thus far and what we intend to do obviously in the beginning uh our goal was to take care of those who need it most we wanted to make sure that people could transition um from um you know uh one time uh housing needs uh to something more permanent temporary housing wasn't the answer isn't the answer uh for that population we want them to have something they can count on so we focused on that early on uh but commissioner handford can explain further yeah great question um this is this is a bright spot really um where we have invested a lot of funding and we have um reached agreement with the legislature and a lot of housing partners you know last year there was about 150 million dollars put towards affordable housing development largely to rehouse folks exiting homelessness um and this year there's already been 50 million approved uh for that same effort with with another 50 sort of in the hopper so out of the 250 million that the governor put forward about 200 of that has been put towards uh affordable housing stressing the need for folks uh the most vulnerable folks um exiting homelessness in recovery and we're making uh progress there over 800 units have already been built another 800 are already in construction and about half of those are serving folks exiting homelessness um and the latest numbers and these are a few months old but we've been successful in in exiting about 1300 families from homelessness into permanent housing thank you um one more question governor also a housing related question but a slightly different i wonder if you've heard anything more uh from our federal partners about the possibility of refugees from ukraine coming to the united states and you had mentioned earlier that you would welcome them to vermage i was wondering if there's anything to update uh folks with on that front yeah nothing to update at this point in time it takes um it takes a while to get through the process that's what we're hearing it won't be from their perspective it won't be anytime soon but the offer still stands obviously we're still focused as well on the afghan refugees and we're trying to accommodate as many as possible in that regard but but again if if this if there's an opportunity for us to take in a ukrainian um refugees will will do so as well thank you very much governor joe suppressor barton chronicle right we'll try tim mcquizden Vermont business magazine hi governor i mentioned the larger contractors and one of the bigger issues with contractors and developers is act 250 and i'm wondering what your take is on how the legislature is proceeding with act 250 changes not quick enough i see you smiling i mean this has been we've been asking um for modernization of act 250 for quite a number of years and we haven't seen a whole lot of improvement in that area and we still um i'm concerned about some of the activities or lack of activities in the legislature at this point in time so there's still time to rebound and get something accomplished but uh but it's it's a perennial issue at this point it's it's over 50 years old and and we need to modernize in order to uh to make some it's making more seamless more efficient uh and protect our environment protect from over development but we really need really need some relief right now we need it for all the the money we have coming forward and arpa and homes and developments and so for us so the time to act is now mr hamford anything you want to add to that i might just add real quickly that there seems to be some um you know common uh understanding that act 250 relief in areas that are already developed already have the infrastructure is a great place to build more homes but we haven't got that relief yet and and i i really hope that a compromise has reached because it seems to work it towards all the goals we have without removal of those barriers in the smart growth housing locations sometimes people are building farther out a field where it has the opposite effect and and i would think that we could come to a compromise and really support the housing that's needed in the places that already have adequate infrastructure and support and all agree on that and move that forward is there a commissioner is there is there any movement right now on reaching such a compromise there there's some movement afoot in one of the the housing bills there is some smart growth land use reform that involves act 250 and other local zoning that moves this forward and yet that's another sort of reason why uh you know moving that bill forward getting the funding for housing and getting some of the barriers removed for smart growth housing locations is something we all hear everyone agrees on and why we need to move those forward without the other debates that are slowing it up. All right great thank you very much. Andrew McGregor, Caledonian record. Yeah thank you good afternoon. I'm curious if there's a date certain set for when the last state-run vaccination clinic will be held and when you anticipate winding down the the registration portal. Is that Secretary Samuelson or Secretary Samuelson did you hear the question is that something you could answer? Yeah we don't have a specific date certain of when the last clinic will be. Again I think it's a misnomer to think that it's that it is a last clinic many of our health care providers particular pharmacies and others will continue but the last sponsored clinic by the state is likely to come sometime in in mid April. And I know previously Dr. Levine and former Secretary Smith held targeted sessions in different parts of the state there was some some direct response to conditions on the ground you know to try to encourage vaccination things like that. Is there anything of that ilk still going on are you guys still looking at corners of the state that that need a boost or is that winding down as well? Maybe Michelle Levine. That is that has wound down as well. We've noticed just markedly diminished numbers of people getting needles and arms at many of these efforts which isn't anything against people who aren't coming to get vaccinated it's more a testimony to how many people have been vaccinated thus far. So there's a little bit less need for that. Again this is not the final word should there be some unforeseen circumstance that develops with the virus which won't be just here in Vermont it'll be all across the country I'm sure if that should happen we're poised to stand things up again. If you know a major efforts needed because there's a new mRNA vaccine because there's a new strain and one had to be developed to take care of that strain there'll be a very large vaccination effort that will be going on and that would be a potential scenario that we could redevelop again what we've already had here. Just like we've been saying you know the National Guard has taken down search sites it doesn't mean that they've destroyed everything that they had it's all waiting again so if someday it would be necessary they'd be able to do that again. So we have a lot of experience and are able to do that but there's just no need for that at this point in time during this part of the pandemic. Thank you and finally for Secretary French it's been just over a week since the shift to optional masking at schools as the recommendation and some areas jumped a week early just curious if at the state level you're hearing any reports on how that is going how that went and if any schools and districts are seeing more cases than they thought they would. Yeah thanks I don't think we're seeing any large pattern change I do have my regular meeting with the leadership of the school nurses association on Thursday I found that to be a very useful forum for me to sort of monitor the temperature on things so so far so good I think schools are well hearing welcoming the change certainly you know taking advantage of the opportunity to focus in on getting back to normal as much as they can. Okay thank you very much. Guy Page from on Daily Chronicle. Governor have you had the opportunity since last Tuesday to study up on H606 which would prohibit development on 5% of all over Montland area and if so what do you think about it especially as with regard to housing and private property rights? Yeah you're referring to the 30 by 30 right? Or 50 by 50 either one yeah. I think that the 30 by 30 I don't see as being problematic I think we're almost there actually in the higher 20% range. I'm a little concerned about the the 50 by 50 that's going to be much more difficult to attain so again we'll see how it works its way through the legislature at this point but but the 30 by 30 isn't as problematic as the 50 by 50. Thank you Governor S4 the replacement for the S30 gun goal bill which you vetoed was approved in a week by the House and the Senate. Senator Benning and others say that it ignores due process rights against seizure of private property. Are you considering vetoing S4? No I laid that out in my veto message deals a deal I said that if they change these provisions went from 30 days which is what they wanted to our additional 27 days to what I suggested additional four days that I would let the bill go through so I'm going to if nothing else has changed and they followed the veto letter then I will let that go. Thank you. I don't know again I that was that was the first I'd heard in terms of Senator Benning's argument on that issue what I had understood my interactions with legislators initially was it was the waiting period that was the problem so I didn't hear about the other issue that's something that's being done as we speak and it just codifies what has become practice so again I was not aware of the problem that Senator Benning had brought up when I conferred with legislators initially in fact the one of legislators Representative Brennan had offered 15 days and 15 business days at that and he thought he had a deal on that with S30 and they they turned that down so my thought was I thought that was excessive so that's why I went in with an extra four days and thought that that made sense. Thank you. Colin Flanders seven days. Hi thanks I had a couple health care questions for you governor first I'm sure you saw the news that three of the state's largest hospitals are asking for a pretty sizable rate increase in what they're charging commercial insurers and some of the state's insurance companies are pushing back saying that their policy holders just can't afford it I'm curious I know that this isn't really a decision for you but I'm wondering if you're keeping tabs on this and whether you have any thoughts on whether whether policy holders can afford more whether Vermonters can afford to pay higher health care costs. Yeah again I'm always concerned with the cost of living especially here in Vermont and this again is a reflection of of the inflation that we're seeing higher higher wages higher prices for goods and services and it's across the board so while I'm not surprised it is a problem on very regressive on some of those who are can not afford it and they're you know living paycheck to paycheck so so again this is just the another effect of of inflation that that I said was my biggest concern about three months ago and it's holding true today. The other question I had for you was back to the state auditor's report I know it sounds like you still have to go through it and and vet the methodology here but if it does prove to be true that the state overpaid at least seven million dollars through the health care stabilization grant program do you think that that money should be given back? Well again nobody has asked for it yet as far as I'm aware I don't think the federal government has identified this this is the auditor's opinion I might ask Secretary Samuelson I know she's been through the report whether she has anything to offer. Thank you Governor and thank you for the question we have had an opportunity to go through the auditor's report I think it's important to remember the context of when these payments were made it was we didn't have vaccines we didn't have treatment people were spared and our providers were really the ones who were coming to the table during that during that time we also know that our health care providers revenues were down significantly and this program was successful in helping to stabilize the providers at that point in time we know that the program was implemented very quickly as the auditor pointed out in order to be responsive to the needs of our health care providers and the needs of that that really unprecedented moment in time that said we've always planned and have already begun even before the auditor's report to do a post-payment review of the providers we have started that process it's been underway for quite some time now and each of the providers that we have reviewed have been able to present appropriate costs that represent the amount that they were paid and so we are not seeing any fraudulent behavior you know in any of the of the reviews that we've done in 10 of the reviews that we have have been across the provides the 17 providers with the auditor reviews so again there's no fraudulent behavior they're able to present and produce costs that are appropriate and we really do feel like this program overall has been a success in stabilizing our health care system so it sounds like the answer is no that there is no intention of asking anyone to pay pay the overpayments back if if we had if we identify a place in which the funds don't meet the federal requirements and as of yet we have not identified anyone then we would look to work with the agency of administration or if appropriate the federal government to recruit but as of now there's no evidence that that there's a necessary recruitment well that's it thank you all very much for coming in and we'll see you again next week no we had one that was 48 minutes but that's close