Almost Done! - 5/24/26

Happy Memorial Day,

Busy times in the statehouse! We spent last week ploughing through many bills that came over from the Senate and various conference committees. We are going to adjourn, for sure, this coming week. The main holdup has been the education bill. The Senate, House and the Administration have been sorting out a compromise which we will see on Tuesday. The primary point of contention has been the Governor’s demand for forced mergers, which neither body has the votes for, and Vermonter’s don’t seem to want. Stay tuned for details on the compromise bill. The budget, yield bill (property tax), and other big bills are  all contingent on the Ed bill passing, so we will get these all out this coming week – I hope!

Bills we passed last week:

•  S208 – this was an interesting one. Originally this was an anti-ICE bill that prohibited face coverings and required visible identification for all law enforcement personnel. Due to a ruling on a similar bill from another state in a far away circuit court that ruled this type of state law unconstitutional under the supremacy clause, our judiciary committee decided to make it only apply to state personnel. Many Democrats, including me, thought we should leave the federal provision in and fight for it. It is worth making a statement and fighting against gestapo tactics in the USA.  

• S202 – this was a small bill from my House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee creating safety parameters and guidelines for portable solar devices. 

• H727 – this bill created a gauntlet of environmental, safety and ratepayer protection thresholds in statute for if a data center wants to site in Vermont. Data centers can raise electric rates for regular folk and can be environmentally destructive without proper safeguards. We now have these safeguards in place. 

• S197 – An act relating to establishing a primary care payment reform program.  Vermont faces provider shortages, growing administrative burdens, and financial pressures on primary care practices. Primary care providers manage chronic conditions, coordinate specialty services, and help patients stay healthy before problems escalate into emergencies. The working theory behind S.197 is that stronger investment in primary care will ultimately reduce overall health care costs by preventing complex medical conditions and reducing reliance on emergency rooms for routine or chronic care. 

• H938 – Homelessness prevention. This bill establishes a structure to provide supports and services to prevent or divert households from homelessness, as well as to address the needs of Vermonters who are already homeless. The Program continues to call upon community partners to provide services; and while it will serve fewer people in hotels, it will provide supportive services and case management to those individuals. In general, the Program: Provides temporary emergency housing to eligible households experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness; Reduces reliance on hotels and motels for emergency housing assistance; Expands the use of alternative housing options and invests in additional shelter capacity; Integrates case management and individualized housing plans for all recipients. 

• S190 – This is a complicated but really good bill to build on Act 68 from last year which established a framework for the Green Mountain Care Board to implement reference based pricing – a mechanism to reduce health care costs in Vermont. Remember that Vermont has the highest health care costs and highest health insurance costs in the country! This bill enables the GMCB to start reference based pricing in two areas (including teacher health plans) in the coming fiscal year. This will reduce costs and, hopefully, reduce pressure on property taxes. For some reason I don’t understand the Republicans were against this bill. It is basically a bridge bill until Act 68 kicks in next year. 

There were a number of other good bills as well. The end of session shines a light on all the work that has been done over the preceding months. Your legislators work hard on many bills that never get discussed in the press or really see the light of day unless there is a controversy. But they are essential to making progress on the big issues of the day. We will leave Montpelier having made progress on health care and housing, and likely education as well. Obviously, there are myriad challenges we are facing that will be waiting for us next winter.