In an opinion piece that appeared recently in the Rutland Herald, Vermont Land Trust Executive Director Gil Livingston and Rutland County Community Land Trust Executive Director Elisabeth Kulas thanked legislators for funding the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board.

"Vermont legislators wisely determined that while difficult economic times require serious belt-tightening, our strategic investments in safe, decent affordable housing and our working farms and forests must continue," the two wrote.

Read the full article online.

Yesterday the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services approved the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 3045).

The bill would establish a stable, fair and cost-effective funding system for the Section 8 program and ensure no tenant is ever at risk of losing housing assistance because of unexpected budget shortfalls.

The bill would also restore previous assistance levels by authorizing 150,000 new vouchers.

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program provides rental housing assistance to 2 million low-income families nationwide.

Read more about H.R. 3045 at the House site.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded Burlington Housing Authority approximately $392,000 to help house low-income families living with AIDS/HIV.

Elsewhere in New England, $1.3 million is going to the Frannie Peabody Center in Portland, Maine; $1.4 million to the city of Portland; and more than $716,000 to the state of New Hampshire.

Judy Smith, left, pictured with VHFA's Erin Perrin, is VHFA’s top mortgage loan originator in Franklin County for 2009.

Judy’s a loan originator for Peoples Trust Co. in St. Albans. You can reach her at 802.752.1214.

We’ll be announcing the rest of our top originators throughout the summer.