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Well, it’s nearly a wrap on the first half of the biennium. We have done hard and meaningful work this session– all while keeping up to speed on the rapidly changing federal landscape and how those changes will impact Vermonters. Consensus in this work doesn’t always come easy, but we all have a shared commitment to making Vermont a stronger, healthier and more affordable place to call home. At times, the path to getting there has been long but we are taking concrete steps like lowering health care costs and transforming our system of care.
This session, we created a new program to help our most vulnerable secure housing and social services to help them in their greatest time of need. We passed a transformative housing bill that acknowledges the current need for not only more housing–but affordable housing. Our priorities have been clear from the start, but we still have more work ahead of us. We remain focused on our commitment to a public education system that is safe, consistent, and provides a quality education for all Vermont kids while bending the cost curve for Vermonters. This policy is too important to rush through in the wee hours of the morning, so, we will back back on June 16th to continue our hard work in collaboration with the Governor and the Senate. As always, it is an honor to serve as your State Representatives and we are so grateful for the continued feedback we receive from you all. It makes a real difference and it informs how we make decisions with your concerns in mind. Please continue to reach out with your thoughts and questions– we can’t do this work without you. In service, Karen Dolan & Lori Houghton [email protected] [email protected] Federal Updates: Is Vermont Feeling the Impacts? We know that many of you are concerned about impacts to Vermont’s state budget and critical services being cut because of loss of funding. It’s so challenging to fully understand what this will look like, but we will do our best to keep you up to speed! Vermont is actively responding to federal policy shifts as developments become known. State Treasurer Mike Pieciak has established a task force to assess the economic impact of these policy changes on Vermont’s economy. For more information, follow this link: Vermont's Task Force on Federal Impacts. Additionally, the Essex House Delegation hosted a Community Forum on Monday, June 2nd with three of our statewide elected leaders, Secretary of State Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, Attorney General Charity Clark and Treasurer Mike Pieciak, to discuss this topic in more detail. The forum was recorded by Town Meeting TV and coverage is available at this link: https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/essex-community-forum-impact-federal-actions-vermont Highlights from Session Priorities: Education, Housing & Healthcare EDUCATION: H454 This is the priority issue that we will focus on when we return to the Statehouse on June 16th. We know this has been a hot button issue across the state– and we know that in order to address rising property taxes, we must look at the ways we fund our education system. Many communities across Vermont are concerned about maintaining community engagement and local voice as we work on education transformation. We share that concern, too. Change is a big deal– and we certainly don’t want to rush through this process. Significant progress has been made in aligning House and Senate perspectives on key elements of education policy and governance. The focus remains on balancing statewide cohesion with local engagement, fiscal responsibility with educational access, and governance reform with operational practicality. We don’t have a final package yet– but we will keep you informed as the work continues. As of now, the Commission on the Future of Public Education retains its central charge to make recommendations on state-level education governance. Their collective expertise and forthcoming public engagement process are essential for developing informed, impactful governance recommendations. We know that class size is pivotal in Vermont’s education policy decisions, especially given our rural context, declining enrollment, and fiscal challenges. Average class sizes in Vermonter are already smaller than those outlined in education research, and small class sizes can create challenges for effective instruction. We want all our students to have access to abundant opportunities, while limiting consolidation where it makes sense. So far, those numbers look like this: Proposed class size minimums:
HEALTHCARE: The legislature has acted on multiple fronts—affordability, access, and accountability—to stabilize Vermont’s healthcare system and prepare for an uncertain federal funding landscape. These measures aim to protect patients, support providers, and ensure the long-term sustainability of healthcare delivery in the state. In response to growing concerns the Health Care Committee has advanced a series of impactful bills this session: H.35: Unmerges the individual and small group insurance markets to reduce premiums for small businesses. With federal subsidies for the individual market set to expire at the end of 2025, this change helps offset potential cost increases for Vermonters. Signed into law. H.96: Raises the threshold for Certificates of Need, making it easier and less costly for healthcare facilities to pursue new projects—ultimately reducing expenses passed on to patients. Signed into law. H.266: Initially aimed at protecting 340B pharmacies, it was amended to cap excessive drug markups by hospitals. Vermont had been charging commercial insurers up to 600% over average sales price; the bill now limits prices to 130% of Medicare's average sales price, effective 2026. Delivered to the Governor June 5th, awaiting his decision. Perhaps the most impactful policy passed out of Healthcare this year is S.126. The current monthly premium is $3908.06 or about $ 58,000 per year for the benchmark Silver plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont on the Vermont Health Exchange. Since Covid the Federal Government has extended tax credits and subsidies to most Vermonters, ensuring that no one pays more than 8.5% of their income for this benchmark plan. Barring action by Congress these credits will expire on December 31, 2025 and are unlikely to be extended. This is simply unaffordable for Vermonters. S.126 aims to reallocate scarce resources using multiple levers including reference based pricing. This is a tool that the GMCB shall use to set rates. The bill also allows the GMCB to review rates of hospital networks, provide transparency for state agencies to set contracts between providers and payers, creates a statewide health resource plan to identify what resources we actually have and what resources are actually needed and where. It forms a primary care committee that actually has some teeth in the development of the plan. It holds AHS accountable for the work and timeline required in ACT 167 around hospital sustainability. Most of all, this bill is about urgency and accountability. In the process of being delivered to the Governor. HOUSING: This year the legislature has been highly focused on work to address our severe shortage in housing stock. Our housing crisis calls for immediate and long-term solutions, which we have addressed in our landmark housing bill, S. 127. This bill is a comprehensive proposal aimed at addressing housing shortages and improving housing accessibility, affordability, and infrastructure in Vermont. S. 127 introduces new programs to incentivize rental housing rehabilitation, manufactured home improvements, infrastructure development, and protections for the vulnerable. Finally, the bill creates the Community and Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP), a tax increment financing program, for municipalities and private developers to finance housing infrastructure projects in both rural and urban regions, to support the creation of up to 3,750 new units per year over the next 10 years. In the process of being delivered to the Governor. MEETING THE COMPREHENSIVE HOUSING NEEDS OF OUR MOST VULNERABLE: Through H.91, the legislature has set Vermont up to transition from a system rooted in emergency motel vouchers managed by the Department for Children and Families to a more comprehensive, sustainable program based in communities. This shift focuses on providing more intensive case management support, addressing the unique causes of homelessness for each person, and offering long-term solutions. The program’s wraparound services are a recognition that there are distinct circumstances behind homelessness, and Vermont aims to create a system that not only provides shelter but empowers people to achieve lasting stability and independence. The bill establishes the Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsive Transition. This community-based approach promotes consistency across regions while allowing flexibility to meet local needs. H.91 represents a significant shift in how Vermont responds to homelessness—moving beyond temporary shelter toward a coordinated system that supports long-term housing stability, recovery, and self-sufficiency. Delivered to the Governor June 5th, awaiting his decision. (Update: The Governor Vetoed this important legislation) TAX CREDITS FOR VERMONTERS: Tax Credits – We expanded existing income tax credits and added new tax credits in S.51 to keep more money in the pockets of working Vermonters, families, older Vermonters, and veterans. This bill is now in the Senate to be passed out during the June 16th and 17th session and then sent to the Governor. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – expands the Vermont EITC for individuals without children from 38% of the federal EITC to 100% so folks who are working can receive more of their money back at tax time. Child Tax Credit – raises the age limit for children who create a tax credit for their families from 5 to 6 years old. This tax credit is the most powerful piece of legislation to reduce childhood poverty passed in the last 25 years. Expansion of Social Security income limits – the income limits for taxpayers who are eligible to receive an income tax exemption on their social security income are raised from $50,000 to $55,000 (with a phase out up to $65,000) for individuals and from $65,000 to $70,000 (with a phase out up to $80,000) for joint filers. The vast majority of older Vermonters pay no taxes on their hard earned social security under this proposal. Expansion of Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) income limits – the income limits for taxpayers who are eligible to exempt the first $10,000 of their CSRS income from income tax are raised from $50,000 to $55,000 (with a phase out up to $65,000) for individuals and from $65,000 to $70,000 (with a phase out up to $80,000) for joint filers. Military Pension and Survivor Benefits Exemption – Military retirees and their survivors with income of $125,000 or less will be able to exempt their military pension and survivor benefits from income tax. For income above $125,000, the exemption phases out until at $175,000 of income, the benefits are no longer exempt. Military retirees will no longer have to choose between taking their military pension exemption or their social security exemption but can exempt both as long as they qualify under the income limitations. Veterans Tax Credit – Veterans with income of $25,000 or less will be eligible for a $250refundable credit, meaning that even if they do not have a tax liability, they are eligible for the credit. The credit phases out up to an income limit of $30,000. When too many veterans are experiencing homelessness or living in poverty in Vermont, this is one small step towards honoring their service, too. PROTECTING OUR IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY MEMBERS: Another priority for this session was responding to the ever-changing federal landscape. The Legislature passed a number of bills that aim to protect targeted communities and restrict how Vermont law enforcement are able to cooperate with federal law enforcement entities. Through the establishment of standby guardianships, H.98 clarifies a process that allows immigrant parents to identify trusted adults who can step in as temporary guardians if the parent is detained or deported. This proactive step can provide some measure of comfort to immigrant parents and their children because they will know in advance who would care for the kids in the event their parents are detained. This process helps ease traumatic separations or confusion in emergency situations. It also avoids the necessity for DCF to take legal custody of the children in these situations. Signed into law. The confirmatory adoption provision in H.98 provides a clear and expedited process for Vermonters who became parents through the use of assisted reproduction technology (who are already parents under state law) to obtain a court order stating so. This provides a necessary level of protection for families who may travel to destinations that do not recognize the legal parenthood of all LGBTQ parents and others. Signed into law. Vermont law currently allows an exception to the Governor’s sole authority to enter into certain types of agreements with federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if there is a declaration of a state or national emergency. S.44 eliminates this exception, and keeps the Governor as the sole authority in Vermont to enter into these ICE delegation-of-authority agreements. This will keep the State accountable to Vermonters regarding how our law enforcement interacts and cooperates with ICE. Signed into law. Act 8 expands Vermont’s hate-motivated crimes statute. It more accurately captures the conduct that such a statute is intended to penalize by expanding the scope of who can be considered a victim of a hate crime. Hateful conduct is not acceptable. Act 8 helps ensure that such conduct can be named and prosecuted effectively.
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