VT H0498

Prohibits municipalities from adopting civil or criminal ordinances that prevent individuals from engaging in life-sustaining activities on municipal property, including sleeping, camping, resting, or loitering

Allows municipalities to restrict use of municipal property for life-sustaining activities only when adequate shelter is available

Establishes a State-funded grant program to support municipal diversionary programs, mental health and addiction services, job training, and partnerships with nonprofits for temporary, transitional, and permanent housing

Authorizes municipalities to designate humanitarian zones in public spaces providing access to sanitation, water, and temporary shelter; appropriates funds to the Agency of Human Services for low-barrier housing programs

Creates tax incentives for affordable housing developers, enacts rent stabilization and eviction protections, requires municipalities to include homelessness strategies in municipal plans, mandates annual reporting on homelessness status, and establishes a task force including legislators, municipal representatives, advocates, and individuals with lived experience to oversee implementation