We’re now well into overtime, at least compared to legislative sessions past, under the Golden Dome. Committee agendas are looking light, but floor calendars have been packed — and word is it won’t be until next Friday, May 30, that the House and Senate gavel out for the session.
So, what will the next two weeks in the Statehouse look like?
While legislators have already sent Gov. Phil Scott their proposed state budget for the upcoming fiscal year — typically their last act before adjournment — there are still several major bills working their way through the building that deal with some of the headline issues from last fall’s election.
Top of mind this week is lawmakers’ landmark education bill, H.454. The legislation — which faced sharp criticism last week as it was voted out of the Senate Finance Committee, including from committee members who voted for it — could be up for consideration on the Senate floor this week, though there was uncertainty Tuesday over how, exactly, that process would go. The House and Senate are far apart on several key provisions in the legislation.
There’s also S.127, which contains a smorgasbord of housing policy changes including a new program to finance infrastructure for housing, such as water lines and sidewalks. The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill Tuesday, but lawmakers are expecting to consider further changes to it Wednesday before taking it up on the House floor Thursday.
Meanwhile, there’s H.91, a bill that would create an off-ramp to the state’s mass use of motel rooms as a primary form of emergency shelter. That bill was voted out of the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday and is also set to come up for a floor vote Thursday.
Lawmakers need more to fill their time, though, (and to justify those per diems,) than just voting on key bills. House committees are planning to hold hearings on the implementation and efficacy of past legislation and, in some cases, are set to take field trips to sites and projects that are relevant to their work, according to Conor Kennedy, chief of staff for Speaker Jill Krowinski.
Committees are also taking a close look at the role of federal funds in different areas of state government — and preparing contingency plans for what would happen if President Donald Trump’s administration pulls that funding, as it already has in some cases, Kennedy said.
House and Senate leaders, he added, expect their annual adjournment resolution to include language that would allow Krowinski and Sen. Phil Baruth, the Senate President Pro Tempore, to call their colleagues back into session if the state loses certain amounts — still to be finalized — of its federal funding. The governor could also, under his existing authority, call legislators back if he thinks it is necessary.
“I think we’re all hoping that we do not have to come back, right? Everyone’s got normal jobs, and seeing family and stuff,” Kennedy said. “But we’ll see.”
— Shaun Robinson
In the know
Gov. Scott told Baruth and Krowinski at a meeting Tuesday afternoon that he would use his power to call legislators back into session after they’ve adjourned for the year if they do not pass an education reform bill first, Baruth told his Senate Democratic colleagues at a caucus meeting Tuesday evening. The meeting focused on the prospects of the Senate’s version of H.454, and a number of senators expressed displeasure with the current state of the bill.
The governor “did say that we wouldn’t be going home until it was done,” Baruth said.
H.454 had been scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor Wednesday, but toward the end of Tuesday’s meeting, Baruth said he now plans to skip over it and allow more time for his caucus to build consensus around what should be included. In its current form, “a majority of our caucus cannot vote for what’s come out at the end of the process,” Baruth said.
— Shaun Robinson
Forty-four Vermont state legislators joined more than 500 of their colleagues from other states in signing a letter to the majority and minority leaders of the U.S. House and Senate, calling on them to oppose language in the budget bill working its way through Congress that would block patients using Medicaid insurance from accessing care at Planned Parenthood clinics.
— Kristen Fountain
On the move
The Senate approved H.238, a bill that seeks to ban PFAS chemicals from dental floss, cleaning products and containers treated with fluorine from being manufactured or sold in the state. The chamber added new language to prohibit sales of firefighting protective gear containing PFAS, including respirators. Firefighters have particularly high exposure to PFAS from the chemicals’ prevalence in their gear and fire-fighting foam. The occupation also carries a higher risk of cancer, which scientists suspect is linked to heightened PFAS levels in their blood.
With the addition from the Senate, the bill now makes its way back to the House for a vote. If passed, the bill would expand existing state law that keeps the chemicals out of cosmetics, menstrual products and other consumer products.
Bans on different categories of product take effect at different dates through mid-2028. The ban on firefighting gear and respirators would go into effect in mid-2029 and 2032, respectively, following a report from the Agency of Natural Resources on their availability and cost at the end of 2028.
— Olivia Gieger
Gov. Scott has already signed several bills into law this week, including the so-called “yield bill,” which sets property tax rates for the upcoming fiscal year. Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for public education in the state.
This year the average property tax bill increase will be 1.1%, a sharp contrast to last year’s average increase of 13.8%. However, achieving that low tax rate required allocating over $40 million in surplus funds to the task as well as a $77 million transfer from the general fund. That plan did not sit well with some legislators, and it also drew a warning from the governor:
“Buying down rates year after year isn’t good fiscal management and we should only view this as a bridge to the real education transformation our system needs,” he said in a written statement.
“Before this session adjourns, it’s critical we work together to deliver an education bill that sets us on a path to a better more sustainable funding system, a more efficient and effective governance structure, and a commitment to doing the education quality work needed to make sure all students have access to educational opportunities, at a price Vermonters can afford.”
— Kristen Fountain
Visit our 2025 bill tracker for the latest updates on major legislation we are following.
