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Thanks to all who turned out for our community conversation this weekend. The next conversation is Sunday March 16th at 3pm at the Westford Common Hall.
Please reach out to me ([email protected]) or Representative Dolan ([email protected]) at any time. We are always happy to answer questions and share perspectives. Your engagement helps ensure we are informed about what is important to you. PUBLIC HEARINGS ON FY26 BUDGET The House and Senate Committees on Appropriations will hold a joint public hearing on Thursday, February 20, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. via in person or videoconference. Anyone interested in testifying should sign up in advance of the hearing through the following online form: https://legislature.vermont.gov/links/joint-public-hearings-on-the-fy26-budget Instructions on how to access and participate in the hearing will be sent once you have signed up for the hearing. The hearing will be available to watch live on YouTube at the following link: https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/house-appropriations EDUCATION TAX WORKSHOP Your House Ways and Means committee is holding four educational tax workshops for legislative members. All are streamed live and available for the public to watch. The first workshop was February 7th about the Principles of a High Quality Tax System. February 14th was on Education Finance. Both can be watched via the Ways and Means YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1akzzVH35AlFalPl5LmYfQ/featured The presentations can also be found on their webpage under the Additional Information section: https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/detail/2026/21 The remaining two workshops will be February 21st and 28th with viewing at the same YouTube channel. EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION - AGENCY OF EDUCATION CONTACT We have been working with the Agency of Education to make sure that Vermonters have a place to provide feedback, questions, and comments on the Governor’s proposed education transformation plan. Please feel free to email [email protected] with your thoughts. We want to make sure we hear your voices as we undertake this work. EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION UPDATE The Administration is slowly rolling out the details of their education transformation plan. While we wait for the policy details, the Education Committee is working on governance reform, school construction, and the drivers of cost in the education fund. The Ways and Means Committee is diving into tax credit and appraisal policy. Additionally, the Health Care Committee is working on insurance costs, the Transportation Committee on bussing, and the Commerce Committee is working on Career and Technical Education. YOU’RE INVITED TO OUR COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SERIES Please join your Essex House delegation during the legislative session for "Community Conversations," a monthly forum for updates on bills, committees, caucus activities and more. We welcome your concerns, questions and a spirit of open, respectful dialogue. SAVE-THE-DATES SUN MAR 16, 3-4:30 WESTFORD COMMON HALL SAT APR 12 9-10:30 VIRTUAL SAT MAY 10, 11-12:30 THE NEST Thank you for the opportunity to serve our community. Rep. Lori Houghton
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While I love the snow, I am anxiously awaiting Punxsutawney Phil’s day to know when spring will be here! It is an honor to continue to represent the City of Essex Junction along with Representative Dolan. Please reach out to me ([email protected]) or Representative Dolan ([email protected]) at any time. We are always happy to answer questions and share perspectives. Your engagement helps ensure we are informed about what is important to you.
GOVERNOR’S BUDGET PROPOSAL On Tuesday the Governor presented his FY2026 budget proposal. Below are links to his address to the General Assembly and his budget language. Now that we have the administration’s proposal, the House is responsible for generating the budget to be voted on to pass to the Senate. The House policy committees review the Administration's proposal as well as proposals that come in from advocates and other organizations to determine the policies and funding we should be moving forward. All committees make recommendations to the House Appropriations Committee who then prioritizes the final budget proposal that will be voted on normally in mid-March to pass to the Senate for their work to begin. https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20Appropriations/FY%202026%20Budget/1.%20Governor's%20Recommended%20Budget%20Documents/W~Adam%20Greshin~FY26%20Budget%20Summary~1-28-2025.pdf https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20Appropriations/FY%202026%20Budget/1.%20Governor's%20Recommended%20Budget%20Documents/W~Adam%20Greshin~FY26%20Budget%20Language~1-28-2025.pdf GOVERNOR’S EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION PROPOSAL As Rep. Dolan provided in last week’s update, the Governor presented his education transformation proposal to the legislature. His high level overview (links below) included broad education governance and quality changes and the recommendation to move from our current financial structure to a foundation formula. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=586SIn2JPg4 https://drive.google.com/.../1srAdDzWjgDulJ5J1Vvl.../view... Friday the Secretary of the Agency of Education presented more details on the proposed foundation formula. The proposed foundation formula, that would be established by the state, includes a base amount per student with weights based on student need. Information on the proposal can be found here: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Education%20Finance/W~Zoie%20Saunders~Education%20Transformation%20Proposal%20-%20%20Foundation%20Formula%20Explained~1-31-2025.pdf https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20Ways%20and%20Means/Education%20Finance/W~Zoie%20Saunders~Education%20Transformation%20-%20Funding%20Presentation~1-31-2025.pdf The Governor’s Education Transformation Proposal is a multi-year plan outlined as: 2025-26 School Year: Stabilize the system & support early transition planning 2026-27 School Year: Transition to new funding formula and provide on-the-ground support 2027-28 School Year: Fully move to new funding and governance system 2028-2029 and Out Years: Rescale school portfolio to achieve quality and financial indicators The Legislative committees of jurisdiction, including House Education and House Ways & Means, are doing their work diving into the details (that they have), hearing from national and local experts to determine the policy changes that will protect our public education by ensuring a high-quality education for all students through a sustainable funding system. Much more to come in our weekly updates. HOUSE HEALTHCARE UPDATES Your House healthcare committee has been hearing from the many Vermont agencies and organizations that provide care to Vermonters and regulate our health care system. We have so many amazing organizations helping Vermonters, including SASH (Support and Services at Home), Blueprint, and all our hospital and community support providers. Yet we all know our health care costs are increasing at an unsustainable rate. The healthcare committee will continue the important oversight of the Agency of Human Services, the Green Mountain Care Board and other entities to ensure they are focused on short, medium and long term system transformation goals to ensure Vermonters receive the care they need, when they need it, where they need it and at a price they can afford. YOU’RE INVITED TO OUR COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SERIES Please join your Essex House delegation during the legislative session for "Community Conversations," a monthly forum for updates on bills, committees, caucus activities and more. The next one is being held on Saturday, February 15th at 9am. We welcome your concerns, questions and a spirit of open, respectful dialogue. SAVE-THE-DATES SAT FEB 15, 9-10:30 THE NEST SUN MAR 16, 3-4:30 WESTFORD COMMON HALL SAT APR 12 9-10:30 VIRTUAL SAT MAY 10, 11-12:30 THE NEST Thank you for the opportunity to serve our community. Rep. Lori Houghton  It’s been a chaotic couple weeks and that is the Trump administration’s goal. Chaos is expected to weaken our resolve and while I know it’s causing deep stress for people - we want you to know we are working together to ensure we’ve got Vermonters backs and we will work together on creative policy solutions for anything this administration throws our way. Myself and my colleagues want to remind Vermonters that we will hold strong on our shared values, including the value that a person’s medical decisions are between that person and their provider, not with the government. That our youth should have the opportunity to be their authentic selves and that population health policies help all Vermonters. When we lift up one community, we are lifting up all communities. These executive orders represent an all-out assault on our state’s values. The executive order aimed at prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors across the country is an unprecedented overreach in executive power in its attempt to shape medical policy, sparking widespread concern and alarm among medical professionals. Shutting down federal funding, even for just a day, causes unnecessary chaos amongst the vital nonprofits helping our most vulnerable communities. Remember, these EO have to be lawful - and organizations all over the country and in Vermont are watching and acting. We all know health care and health insurance systems are in a fragile state here in Vermont and across the country. We also know the Trump administration’s project 2025 plan calls for slashing many of the programs that help Vermonters–programs like Medicaid, health care for seniors, reproductive and gender affirming health care, research, and so much more. With help from our colleagues in the Senate, Treasurer Pieciak and other statewide officers, and our federal delegation, we want all Vermonters, especially our LGBTQ+ youth, to know that we will do everything we can to protect Vermonters' access to the care they need and deserve and protect our health care providers providing that care. It’s at times like this that I’m proud to live in Vermont. We will rally around our neighbors, and I encourage people to connect and stay connected to their community. To our LGBTQ+ community and all communities impacted by these decisions - no executive order will ever invalidate you as individuals - you are loved and valued. It is an honor to continue to represent the City of Essex Junction along with Representative Dolan. Please reach out to me ([email protected]) or Representative Dolan ([email protected]) at any time. We are always happy to answer questions and share perspectives. Your engagement helps ensure we are informed about what is important to you.
GOVERNOR’S EDUCATION PROPOSAL The legislature will have a caucus of the whole on Wednesday January 22nd at 3:45pm to hear the administration’s education proposal. All House proceedings are streamed live and the House Chamber link can be found at https://legislature.vermont.gov/house/streaming/ BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING Your House Appropriations Committee will take testimony on the Governor's recommended budget adjustments on Thursday January 23rd at 1pm. More information on how to participate can be found at https://legislature.vermont.gov/home/noteworthy/announcements/ BUDGET PROCESS OVERVIEW Every year, the Vermont Legislature is required to pass a budget for the following fiscal year, which begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. And every year, we ensure that the budget is balanced — we do not spend more than we expect to receive in revenues. People may not realize that passing a balanced budget is not a requirement by law in Vermont as it is in many states. We pass a balanced budget because it is the right thing to do, and it is the fiscally responsible way to manage taxpayer money. How do we know how much revenue we will have when we create the budget? Twice a year, in January and July, the Emergency Board meets to establish the official consensus revenue forecast from which the budget is built. The members of the E-Board consist of the four money committee chairs (House and Senate Appropriations, House Ways and Means, and Senate Finance) and the governor. The forecast is developed by the Legislature’s economist in collaboration with the governor’s economist. Everyone needs to agree on what the revenue is likely to be, and that’s the figure that is used to ensure that we don’t spend more than we will take in. In addition, we are careful to match the type of money we are receiving with the appropriate type of expenditure. Funds that we expect to receive every year (income taxes, for example), are considered base funds and they are used for ongoing operating expenses of the state. Other funds are considered one-time, because they are non-recurring. Examples of this include court settlements and certain special funds. This money is only used for one-time expenses (e.g., a pilot project, certain grants, or an IT project) or reserved for future use. Finally, at the six-month point in January every year, we review the current year budget and adjust as needed to tweak costs and rebalance state spending. This further ensures that we keep our budget in balance. The total operating budget for the current year, fiscal year 2025, including the transportation budget and the education fund, is $8.582 billion. This is $108 million less than the FY24 budget. The funding for the entire budget comes from a variety of sources:
The January meeting of the Emergency Board will take place on Jan. 22. The consensus revenue forecast that we all agree on at that time will help us finalize the tweaks to the FY25 Budget through the Budget Adjustment Act and will also form the basis for the FY26 budget. The meeting will be livestreamed via the Governor’s Office. Thank you, Rep. Lori Houghton On June 17th the Legislature reconvened to consider bills that had been vetoed by the Governor. Here is a list of all the veto overrides that happened. I voted yes to override all seven bills. Thank you to Rep. Julia Andrews who provided this summary.
H. 289 The Renewable Energy Standard This bill was a strong collaborative effort between lawmakers, environmentalists, and energy companies in Vermont to create a path toward 100% renewable energy by 2035. H. 645 The expansion of approaches to restorative justice This bill expands today’s restorative justice system to spread across the state. Restorative justice allows us to create accountability for certain crimes while diverting individuals from our over-burdened criminal justice system. H. 72 A harm-reduction criminal justice response to drug use This bill enables a pilot of a “safe injection site” in Burlington, a community that is supportive of that measure to provide a bit more community safety, supervision and life-saving intervention for those with drug misuse disorder, and access to treatment options for those who are ready to make a change. H. 687 Community resilience and biodiversity protection through land use Colloquially known as the Act 250 bill, this is a significant update to our Act 250 land use bill that paves the way for more housing to be built with a focus on more dense areas. H. 706 Banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides This creates a ban on the use of pesticide-coated seeds to reduce the impact on the pollinator population. This law will go into effect at the same time as New York’s sister law does, to ensure buying power for farmers to purchase uncoated seeds. H. 887 Homestead property tax yields, nonhomestead rates, and policy changes to education finance and taxation The yield bill is a must-pass piece of legislation where we fund all of the voter-approved school district budgets statewide. In most years, this is a fairly simple affair, but this year has been very different. When the December 1 estimate of statewide property taxes showed an estimated increase of 20%, we began the work to consider what tools we had to reduce that burden. In the end, we were able to shave more than 6% off of the original estimate. While the 13.8% average increase is still really high, it represents the work of hundreds of lawmakers, advocates, and educators to bring it to that point. There is also money set aside in the bill to help out the two-thirds of Vermonters who pay property taxes based on income. During the entire five months that the Legislature was in session, we received no realistic proposals from the Governor’s office. In fact, we only received a single proposal at all, which involved borrowing money to pay our education liability. The Treasurer testified that doing so would harm our credit rating, making every dollar we borrow as a state more expensive. The Administration also could not explain how the additional liability would not end up being paid by taxpayers. In short, it was not a real proposal. It’s also important to note that not passing the yield isn’t as simple as just saying ‘no’- it has dire implications that would be felt by every Vermonter as school districts have to borrow money, with interest, that would then need to be paid back. This issue brief from the nonpartisan Joint Fiscal Office explains it in more depth: https://ljfo.vermont.gov/.../GENERAL-377713-v2-Fiscal. The 2024 yield bill also looks at the coming years and outlines a plan to make foundational changes to the current system. It sets the stage for the Legislature to reconvene in January 2025 with a draft bill to change Vermont’s funding formula to make it more straightforward. It also sets in motion a Commission to make recommendations on cost-saving measures including key areas such as mental health costs and health insurance premiums. |
