With education funding reform and the governor's transformation proposal top of mind in the State House, it was grounding and timely to kick the tires with community members on what's been proposed so far. Thanks to all who made it out to this week’s legislator forum or joined online, and a thanks to Representative White for organizing and moderating for us and to our Harwood hosts. If you didn't make the March 24 meeting or couldn't join the Zoom, please find the meeting recording on mrvtv.com and reach out with your comments and questions. We heard some clear directives for better communication on the proposal's goals and process for making changes, the importance of preserving the character of our schools and avoiding the pitfalls of a one-size-fits-all approach, as well as questions about predicted cost savings. I'm eager to continue these discussions in different formats and venues around our towns as we build a new vision and sustainable pathway for supporting education in our state.
The final crossover deadline was last Friday, which makes for longer days and nights of voting this week, including on the bills highlighted below.
Property taxes/education yield – The FY26 Yield Bill sets the education tax rate needed to cover the $2.4B in expected education spending. Property tax relief could be in sight this year as the House Ways & Means Committee voted (9-2-0) on a property tax rate that achieves a 1.1% increase above last year to the average statewide property tax bill, by using one-time dollars ($41M in surplus and $77M in unallocated funds from the General Fund). This is smaller increase than what was projected in December (5.5%). Sixty-three percent of the education budget will be funded from property taxes in this scenario. If it passes the House, the Yield Bill will go on to the Senate where further changes are possible.
Budget Adjustment Act (BAA)/Transitional housing – Last week, we passed a revised Budget Adjustment Act that now matches the Governor's requests except for the motel program extension through June 30 instead of April 1. As of this writing, negotiations are still underway with the administration so it's hard to say where things will end up. We welcomed Vermonters into the House Chamber who are currently housed in the General Assistance motel program and facing the 80-day end point of winter shelter. It's clear how urgently we need better strategies at homelessness prevention and ways to meet the long-term housing needs of vulnerable Vermonters. We'll be voting on the proposed "Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsive Transition to Housing Program – VHEARTH" bill (H.91). H.91 details a comprehensive replacement of the General Assistance program that focuses on providing immediate shelter and facilitating transitions to permanent housing. It tasks area community action agencies, Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and other community providers with developing local/regional solutions that utilize and build upon existing structures of care.
Local media – We'll also be taking up H.244, an act relating to state-contracting standards for advertising. This is an important bill with the goal of fortifying our struggling local media, whose reporting is critical to having an informed electorate and a functioning democracy. The bill would add local media ad-buying to the state's new "VT Buys" portal for local vendors. The goal of VT Buys is to support local businesses by steering state purchases locally. H.244 would require the state to spend public dollars (70% of its advertising budget) on local advertising agencies and local news sources, thereby bypassing big tech social media companies and out-of-state big ad agencies. Tourism and employment ads would be exempt from this requirement.
Data privacy/public safety – It was difficult to learn about the origin of New Jersey's Daniel's Law, a public safety/data protection law enacted after a devastating loss of life in an act of retaliation against a judge. H.342, an act relating to protecting the personal information of certain public servants, is Vermont's version of Daniel's Law and would afford personal data privacy protections to judicial public servants.
FY26 Budget – The House Appropriations Committee finalized the FY26 budget, introduced this week as H.493, aka the Big Bill. It will be voted on by a caucus of the whole before coming for a floor vote this week. This budget reflects hard choices amid rising uncertainty around federal funding.
Elections – H.474, miscellaneous changes to election law, calls for a study on ranked choice voting, and addresses the party nominations process, "second bite at the apple" candidacy, recounts, campaign finance, and other items. After suspended action pending amendments, it's up for a vote this week.
April coffee hours
- Tuesday, April 22, Moretown General Store, 8-9 a.m.
- Saturday, April 26, Mad River Donuts, 10-11 a.m.
- Tuesday, April 29, Black Cap Cafe & Bakery, 8-9 a.m.
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