[T]he state Department of Economic Development has a little over a month to work out some details before it launches its remote worker program on Jan. 1.
That’s the day that would-be remote workers, drawn by the idea of a $10,000 incentive to move to Vermont, can start taking action to qualify for the money.
The Vermont Legislature passed the remote worker program earlier this year with authorization for half a million dollars to be spent over several years. After Gov. Phil Scott signed the bill into law in May, the story of the $10,000 incentive traveled widely on social media. The state Department of Economic Development, which has been charged with implementing the program, has received more than 3,000 queries from around the world. Its newsletter mailing list has swelled from several hundred to more than 10,000, said Department of Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein.
“The media picked up on it nationally and internationally in ways none of us anticipated at all,” said the bill’s co-sponsor, Sen. Becca Balint, D-Windham.
But before the program starts, the department needs answers to several questions about the legislation.
One is about who is eligible. The bill states the money will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, but that needs refining, Goldstein said. The bill has would-be claimants fill out eligibility forms, obtain verification from their employer, and wait until the following tax year to prove they are taxpayers and residents of the state before applying for a grant.
“If you have 500 legitimate queries, how do you choose?” Goldstein said.
Under the bill, the new remote worker must perform “most” duties remotely, but that isn’t defined any further.
“We need specificity; is that 51 percent?” Goldstein said.
The scope of the legislation is limited. Not more than $125,000 can be awarded in 2019, and not more than $250,000 can be awarded the following year. Nobody can get more than $5,000 in one year. Goldstein said most of the people who have contacted the department don’t seem to realize applicants are likely to get considerably less than $10,000, and only as reimbursement for expenses such as moving, computer software and hardware, broadband access, and co-working space.
“Your costs might be just $2,000,” she said. “That’s going to be a rude awakening for a lot of people; I think they think we’re just writing checks. That’s the spirit of some of the emails and voicemails.”
Goldstein expects about a third of the interested people who have emailed the department to back out when they learn they’re not going to get an automatic handout. As for the other 2,000, she expects that some of them won’t be eligible because they are contract workers. As for the rest, she says many were already looking for a way to move to Vermont, and the remote worker program will help them do it.
“The object of the game is to get people to move here, so if they don’t have to change their job, that removes one barrier to them making the plunge and coming to Vermont,” she said. “It’s a dream; our job is to help them figure it out.”
For now, Goldstein is focused on putting together informational materials on the program. She’s waiting to hear back from members of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, where the bill was crafted.
“It’s disappointing we didn’t do a thorough enough job for her to have the information she needs, but I don’t find this alarming,” Balint said. “When you have committees that only meet from January to May, there are going to be details that need to be dealt with and parts of legislation that need to be tweaked.”
Balint added that she believes the committee will be able to get Goldstein the information she needs next year, before anyone submits an application for reimbursement.
“If she feels like she has not gotten enough guidance from us, I believe her,” she said. “It was really uncharted territory. She has tried her utmost best to make sure this can launch successfully.”
As for Goldstein, if she doesn’t get the details she needs in time for the program launch, she said, “we’re going to proceed with the ambiguity, because what other choice do we have but to follow the law?”