Economic officials and immigrant advocates are urging lawmakers to consider bolstering supports for the 30,000 foreign-born Vermonters that make up a growing share of the state’s workforce.
House lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation that establishes a new commission to study the merits of adding a so-called “Office of New Americans” to state government.
Austin Davis, director of legislative affairs for the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, told lawmakers last month that immigration represents one key solution to Vermont’s “demographic aging crisis.” He said a new state office, focused in part on workforce integration, could help address the labor shortage experienced by his organization’s members.
“Simply put, Vermont needs to grow,” Davis said. “And we’ve consistently heard from our members how valuable our New American and foreign-born populations are to growing and contributing to our workforce.”
Burlington Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone said Wednesday that immigrant workers paid about $500 million in state taxes in 2023 and contributed $1.2 billion in spending power to the Vermont economy.
“Despite these contributions, many New Americans face persistent barriers in accessing essential services, such as language support, credential recognition, housing,” Stone said.
The legislation, known as S.56, gained momentum in Montpelier after federal funding cuts to organizations that support immigrants, as well as the high-profile arrests of students and migrant dairy workers.
Many New Americans face persistent barriers in accessing essential services, such as language support, credential recognition, housing.Burlington Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone
Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, said increased needs for immigration legal services have spotlighted the lack of coordination among the patchwork of organizations dedicated to helping immigrants navigate housing, employment and legal hurdles.
“We’re just asking for the opportunity to centralize coordination and improve efficiency for the benefit of not just the impacted people … but for the benefit of the Vermont communities that these people are moving into with spending power and tax dollars and entrepreneurship,” Martin Diaz said.
Jan Steinbauer, with the Vermont-New Hampshire Asylum Support Network, said her all-volunteer organization receives calls for assistance from hospitals, schools and other organizations seeking assistance for immigrants in need of help. A centralized intake service administered by the state, she said, would provide a more effective avenue for aid.
“I mean, these are professional people in their fields, but they don’t have the answers all the time to know how to support the folks, especially with the legal aspect,” Steinbauer told lawmakers.
Tracy Dolan, head of the Vermont Refugee Office, said she’s able to provide comprehensive supports to the 6,000 or so refugees that reside in Vermont. She told lawmakers she has less capacity to help people with non-refugee immigration status.
“In the state of Vermont, there isn’t another place for all those phone calls to come in … so this type of office presumably would allow for something like that,” Dolan said.
Dolan said she’s spoken with colleagues in other states who have already created offices of New Americans.
“One of the big things that they have found is it’s allowed them to put more emphasis on labor and workforce,” she said.
Legislation that cleared the House Wednesday, which still needs final support in the Senate, directs the commission to present a report to the Legislature before the next legislative biennium.
More than 25 organizations across the state have endorsed the bill, including Migrant Justice, the ACLU of Vermont and the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity.
A spokesperson for the Scott administration said the governor is not opposed to the bill.
