Town Meeting is in the air, and Representative Candice White and I are looking forward to connecting with our communities and sharing progress so far in the State House. Below is the first part of our annual Town Meeting Report on key issues; a second part of the report will follow in next week’s edition. We’ll post the full report online on our websites and will have hard copies available at each meeting.
Vermont House Legislative Committees are where the hands-on work of lawmaking happens. Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned to committee. Committee members gather testimony from experts, community members, advocates, and state agencies to better understand the issue. Committee members ask questions, review data, and discuss how a proposal might work in real life. Constituents may weigh in by contacting their representatives to express their position on a particular subject. From there, the committee works to shape practical, balanced legislation—by creating a new law or improving an existing one—before voting it out to the full legislative body for consideration.
Education
The House Education Committee has heard testimony from Vermont superintendents, Vermont principals, and other education stakeholders as the committee works to move forward on Act 73.
As they move forward, members are considering the work of the Commission on the Future of Public Education, and the hours of public input given to the Redistricting Task Force.
In addition to considering new school district boundaries, the committee is considering the use of cooperative shared service areas as a means of cost savings for districts that don’t have enough scale to offer key services.
Several factors up for debate include whether the new district map will include a combination of Supervisory Unions and School Districts. Each model has merits and drawbacks, which the committee continues to debate. However, the goals of Act 73 are clear: fewer districts, minimum class sizes, and an educational system that benefits students and bends the cost curve to slow the rise in property taxes. Vermont has seen a significant decline in enrollment in grades K-12 over the last several decades while spending continues to rise.
Health care
The Health Care Committee continues its work to find ways to reduce the cost of health care in Vermont while maximizing access to quality health care. The system saw a $230,000,000 reduction in costs to the system, mostly due to a reduction in what hospitals can charge for drugs given in an out-patient setting. This was implemented in FY26 and was a great beginning that helped to keep the increase in education health insurance to single digits.
Several bills have passed out of committee unanimously:
H.577 would launch a card, Array RX, that enables Vermonters to pay about 20% of the cost of generic prescription drugs and 80% of trade drugs through a multi-state nonprofit consortium. The State Treasurer estimates that the card should save Vermonters millions. It is available to those with and without health insurance, and would count towards the deductible on health insurance plans.
H.270 is a bill that provides for confidential peer support for first responders. This was requested by the first responder community to make sure that a trained peer support specialist was available for consultation, and that it be confidential. We heard testimony on the $195 million Federal Rural Health Transformation Funding grant. The Committee has a strong focus on enhancing access to primary care for Vermonters. There are strict limits on what the funds can be used for, and the allowable use is being implemented by the Agency of Human Services.
Energy and telecom infrastructure
Vermont’s investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy over the past decades has helped to reduce climate pollution and reliably keep our electric rates among the lowest in New England. But cost pressures from federal policy rollbacks, multi-state transmission upgrades, and growing power needs for artificial intelligence threaten affordability and climate progress. Heating and transportation still depend primarily on fossil fuels (consuming three-quarters of Vermont’s energy spending), fluctuate wildly in price, and destabilize our climate and economy. An excellent overview of Vermont’s energy picture is Energy Action Network's annual report (eanvt.org). The key takeaway: when we invest in energy efficiency, from weatherizing homes to driving electric vehicles, we help Vermonters achieve measurable savings over time.
The House passed H.527, a bill to extend a streamlined process for siting telecom facilities, primarily cell phone and radio towers. Determining the best locations for towers is a complex process that’s too difficult for towns and community members to engage in. This bill, now in the Senate, requires the Public Utilities Commission to recommend ways to make it easier for towns and the public to meaningfully participate in local siting decisions.
The House passed H.710, now in the Senate, which updates the rules on expansions at existing electric-generation facilities. By requiring separate infrastructure — like access roads and utility poles — Vermont law currently makes it hard to build solar arrays next to one another. This bill makes it easier to build new renewables on already-developed sites.
As the race to power artificial intelligence heats up around the country, House legislators are working to ensure that proposed data centers in Vermont are built responsibly, given their enormous power and water needs. H.727 strengthens regulation of large-load facilities by considering the environmental and cost impacts.
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