Lawmakers Hear Budget Requests, Regulatory Changes and New Mandates Across Multiple Committees
Legislative committees on Tuesday heard testimony and considered budget requests, proposed regulatory authority expansions, mandated requirements for local planning and school technology, fee adjustments tied to permitting, and enforcement and penalty provisions across a series of meetings that included Appropriations, Commerce & Economic Development, Natural Resources & Energy, Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs, Government Operations & Military Affairs, Judiciary and Transportation.
Appropriations
The House Appropriations Committee held three sessions addressing agency budget requests, federal grant administration, and regulatory enforcement funding.
Witnesses from the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) presented a budget packet that included a 3% request to VSAC’s base appropriation covering core financial aid programs including "eight zero two opportunity," the advancement grant and a trades forgivable loan program. VSAC representatives said the agency administers a supplemental student loan program financed with tax-exempt bonds and retains 2% of earnings on those loans for program administration. VSAC reported administering more than 150 scholarship programs with a portfolio described as "worth about $16,800,000" and requested an $812,000 increase to the Freedom and Unity Scholarship, bringing that program to $2,300,000 to raise an income threshold to $80,000.
Appropriations members also heard that VSAC has long-run forgivable loan programs for nursing and mental health professionals that historically used Global Commitment and ARPA funding. Testimony noted last year’s Global Commitment allocation of $3,200,000 for the nursing forgivable loan program and that demand exceeded available funds by several million dollars; VSAC said it requested an additional $2,000,000 for the program.
Committee discussion included administration of a federal Rural Health Transformation grant. Witnesses said the General Assembly lacks authority over the grant funding and that the grant has a "use it or lose it" obligation timetable; VSAC said its role is limited to accepting or declining the grant and that it cannot change grant terms.
In a separate Appropriations panel, the Vermont Criminal Justice Council outlined staffing and budget figures tied to training and regulatory compliance. The council described enrollment fluctuations in recruit classes and cited a cost-per-student training estimate of $6,700. The council requested one-time funds, including $30,000 for language access translation of mandated statewide policies, and reported operating budget increases on the order of 1.6% to 8% on the general fund amounting to $71,443, with an IDT fund increase of $43,527.
The House also received presentations from the cannabis regulatory authority, which reported a fiscal year ’27 total budget request just over $7,100,000. Two-thirds of that was proposed to be covered through general fund appropriations and approximately $2,500,000 through the Cannabis Regulation Fund, which the agency described as made up of licensing fees, product registration fees and administrative penalties. The agency reported issuing just over $200,000 in administrative penalties in calendar year 2025 and collecting about $62,000 to date.
Commerce & Economic Development — H.650 (Educational Technology)
The House Commerce & Economic Development Committee began a walkthrough of H.650, a bill that would require educational technology products used in schools to be registered annually with the state and would direct the Secretary of State to create certification standards and a review process before products could be used in schools.
Legislative staff described the bill as establishing a new subchapter defining "educational technology product" broadly as student-facing software, applications or platforms that collect, process or transmit student data for teaching and learning. Committee members raised questions about the Secretary of State’s capacity to certify products, how educational standards would be applied, and whether certification could inadvertently limit use of products not explicitly designed for education but used in classrooms.
The bill text as presented includes provisions that impose requirements and civil penalties; legislative counsel and committee members indicated further discussion and witness testimony would occur in follow-up hearings.
Natural Resources & Energy — S.212 and S.2
The Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee took up S.212 and S.2, bills related to water and wastewater connections and general permitting authority.
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Agency testimony from the Department of Environmental Conservation outlined language in S.2 to complete authority for a general permitting program for connections and described how the agency would use general permits to streamline low-risk, low-complexity projects. Officials said the bill includes language allowing the agency to "give deference" as part of connection reviews and to post general permits for public comment on the Environmental Notice Bulletin, adopt responsiveness summaries, and automate notice-of-intent processing for qualifying projects.
The agency discussed fee structures tied to delegation to municipalities and processing of partial delegation requests, referencing a proposed $100 processing fee and a previously discussed $500 fee for municipal delegation. The department also discussed an approach to scale fees by flow categories for certain projects to avoid creating a budget hole for permitting services.
Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs — S.37 and Act 181
The Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee reviewed provisions of a housing bill and address including language tied to housing targets and municipal planning. Committee members described section one as bringing housing targets, established under Act 181, into municipal plans and aligning state, regional and municipal planning processes. Testimony described the regional planning commissions as responsible for distributing targets to municipalities and urged municipalities to analyze the targets delivered by regional planning commissions.
The committee also considered a redrafted resolution, JRS 37, and moved to advance a revised draft during the session. Committee remarks referenced downtown tax credits and other economic development provisions that serve multiple sectors, including housing.
Transportation — Act 181 and Funding Concerns
The Senate Transportation Committee received testimony from transportation and advocacy groups about connections among transportation, land use and housing. Witnesses said changes associated with Act 181 affected revenue and operational requirements and that some existing revenue sources for transportation have been reduced. Speakers described a statewide funding shortfall they framed as a "$35,000,000 hole" in transportation financing and called for stable revenues for public transit and services such as medical transport.
Local Motion and other presenters described past funding for Safe Routes to School coordination and the loss of dedicated funding in recent years, noting impacts on school-based encouragement programs and regional coordination.
Government Operations & Military Affairs — S.23
The House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee reviewed amendments to S.23, presenting comparative language between the Senate proposal of amendment and the House-passed version. Committee staff described edits and color-coded changes, and members discussed language distinctions and precise terminology. Topics raised during discussion included election-related content, public questions, and disclosure requirements for synthetic media, with members debating scope and limits tied to speech and public-interest protections.
Judiciary — S.208 and Enforcement Concerns
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard from the attorney general’s office and civil rights advocates on S.208, a measure discussed in the context of transparency and regulation of government agents. Testimony referenced a recent California case pending in federal court and noted arguments about constitutionality and discrimination. The attorney general’s office described multistate advocacy for federal legislation on related topics and urged attention to ongoing federal litigation outcomes before extending state-level measures. Civil rights and racial equity office witnesses characterized S.208 as an important transparency measure for law enforcement, while the attorney general’s office said open legal questions counsel caution.
Conclusion
These articles summarize testimony and deliberations from multiple committee meetings on February 3 that covered budget requests, proposed increases to agency authority and permitting processes, mandated requirements for educational technology and municipal planning, fee proposals linked to permitting and delegation, and enforcement and penalty matters. Committees involved included Appropriations, Commerce & Economic Development, Natural Resources & Energy, Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs, Government Operations & Military Affairs, Judiciary and Transportation, and discussions focused on spending, taxation, mandates, authority expansions, housing and education policy.
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