Lawmakers heard testimony on housing mandates, producer responsibility, health certifications and budget proposals across multiple committees
Lawmakers in several House and Senate committees heard testimony and reviewed draft language on a range of policy topics during meetings on February 18, 2026. Major items included housing-related proposals and tenant testimony in the General & Housing Committee; producer responsibility and deposit program design in Environment; funding requests and service needs in Human Services; higher education endowment and retirement program funding in Appropriations; energy program and utility fund language in Energy & Digital Infrastructure; school construction, district reserves and cooperative service agency proposals in Education and Ways & Means; and scope-of-practice and emergency mental-health certification changes in Health and Health & Welfare.
General & Housing
The House General & Housing Committee considered H.826, described in committee discussion as "an act relating to land access and opportunity," and discussed language drawn from H.602 on municipal housing targets. Witnesses described housing displacement and no-cause evictions experienced in Chittenden County and urged attention to tenant protections, first-right-of-refusal mechanics and deposit practices. Testimony noted concerns about shortened notification periods and uncertified notices to vacate. The Land Access and Opportunity Board and regional planning commissions were referenced as sources of technical assistance; the bill and related language were discussed in the context of municipal plan requirements, capacity constraints for small towns, and documentation when municipalities cannot meet housing targets. Committee participants referenced Act 181 and S.5 in relation to housing target provisions.
Environment
The House Environment Committee considered several bills, including H.158, H.175 and S.86, and extensive stakeholder testimony on a proposed producer responsibility organization (PRO) and revisions to the beverage container deposit and redemption system. Testimony addressed redemption rates, cross-border redemption, incentives for automation at redemption centers, and data centralization under a PRO. Percent figures cited in testimony included an 84% return share for a commingling program and references to other redemption percentages. Committee discussion covered PRO plan approval timelines, rulemaking authority for the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR), reporting requirements for PROs (including redemption center locations, material volumes, carbon impacts and costs), and plan approval periods not greater than five years. Changes discussed included handling-fee and deposit-treatment adjustments, convenience criteria for points of redemption, and an ANR report recommendation process on whether deposits should be increased for specific beverage categories.
The committee also reviewed broader DEC miscellaneous language affecting rulemaking, notice procedures, dam-removal public-good considerations and stream alteration jurisdictional thresholds. Witnesses raised concerns about protecting sensitive areas and the fiscal implications of environmental restoration and mitigation.
Human Services
The House Human Services Committee received a series of funding and program requests tied to homelessness prevention, senior services, food assistance and recovery supports. Testimony included a budget request from the Vermont Food Bank for $5,000,000 for FY27, with $2,000,000 identified for network partner support; End Homelessness Vermont requested $611,625 for disability-focused case management and related services; the Thompson Senior Center and the Vermont Association of Senior Centers and Meal Providers described growing demand and noted prior and current funding mixes that include Older Americans Act dollars and state matching; and Vermont Care Partners and recovery organizations urged level funding and inflationary increases for home- and community-based services and recovery programs.
Witnesses said demand for services is rising while funding has remained level in many areas, and multiple presenters linked the requests to service continuity for vulnerable populations, including older Vermonters and people with disabilities.
Appropriations
The House Appropriations Committee reviewed proposals related to the Vermont Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund and the Vermont Saves retirement program. Committee briefing materials described a proposed mandatory allocation of up to 5% of fund assets annually to be divided equally among the University of Vermont, Vermont State Colleges and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, subject to a proviso that distributions not reduce the fund balance below initial and additional principal contributions. A separate provision described an annual allocation of up to 2% of assets for increasing or creating endowments, subject to matching and withdrawal certification requirements. The treasurer’s office materials showed the fund balance and noted occasional estate-tax windfalls and a transfer from unclaimed property as revenue sources. Appropriations also reviewed a proposal to support the Vermont Saves program with temporary transfers from unclaimed property until the program reaches self-sufficiency, with projections that program revenues would grow over time.
The committee held a straw poll on requesting a committee of conference for the Budget Adjustment Act, H.790, noting limited changes to a previously sent Senate bill but identifying items—such as meal and food bank language—that members wanted further discussion on.
Energy & Digital Infrastructure
The Energy & Digital Infrastructure Committee discussed multiple bills (including H.710, H.716, S.202 and H.600) and utility program language. Burlington Electric Department representatives and the Department of Public Service presented compromise language for a pilot or program that would allow Burlington Electric to use thermal or process-fuel-related funds with a 60% focus on weatherization and thermal efficiency and 40% available for other programs (examples cited included geothermal well testing and incentives). Committee counsel recommended treating the proposal as a standalone program rather than amending prior pilot session law. Witnesses discussed the source of the dollars (capacity-market and RGGI revenues) and how the funds differ from electric-efficiency charges.
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Town energy committee leaders and solar industry witnesses also appeared, discussing smart-growth siting for solar, municipal energy planning, local projects and workforce impacts from changes to federal tax credits.
Education and Ways & Means
Education committee testimony addressed school construction, deferred maintenance and programmatic priorities tied to Act 73 and Act 46. Superintendents and school officials described building needs, historic state aid percentages cited in examples, and the challenge of bonding and affordability in some districts. Witnesses suggested criteria to prioritize projects by need, capacity and district wealth.
The Education committee heard testimony on Cooperative Service Agencies (CESAs) as a regional structure to pool specialized services, with stakeholders urging guardrails to protect access, avoid unintended increases in separate placements, and preserve benefits and retirement for educators. Testimony referenced Act 166, Act 73 and Act 173 in discussions of placement, special education capacity and implementation gaps.
Ways & Means reviewed proposed rulemaking authority tied to district reserve fund standards that was drafted as an amendment to prior language in the 2024 yield bill. The department and counsel described plans to initiate rulemaking, consult districts and align recommended reserve-account standards with existing district reporting and auditing practices. Committee discussion covered timelines, definitions of reserve categories and whether guidance would be advisory or prescriptive.
Health & Welfare and Health Care
The Senate Health & Welfare Committee heard proffered testimony on bills relating to scope of practice in eye care, including S.24 and S.64, with optometrists and ophthalmologists describing training, practice patterns and outcome data for procedures under review.
The House Health Care Committee considered two strands of policy. Members reviewed a bill that would expand who may complete an initial emergency certification for involuntary emergency exams. Draft language presented to the committee would change existing references from "licensed physician" to "health care professional" in statute and define the new category to potentially include physician assistants and specified mental-health clinicians; the language also included conforming changes to admission authority language. Committee staff and witnesses outlined the emergency-exam process and the roles of applicants, certifiers and hospital admission officials. Separately, the committee reviewed H.573, a bill addressing who may serve as the assigned medical professional for emergency examinations in hospital settings; testimony emphasized training standards, existing collaborative practice arrangements and the potential effect on access to inpatient psychiatric evaluations. At several points the Department of Mental Health and hospital representatives were mentioned as parties involved in training, approvals and supervisory arrangements.
Conclusion
This article covers committee meetings held on February 18, 2026, and summarizes testimony and bill-related discussions in the House General & Housing, Environment, Human Services, Appropriations, Energy & Digital Infrastructure, Education, Ways & Means, and Health Care committees, and the Senate Health & Welfare Committee. Topics addressed included housing and tenant protections, producer responsibility and beverage container redemption, service and budget requests for human services, higher education endowment and Vermont Saves funding proposals, energy program language for a municipal utility, school construction and district reserve guidance, and changes to health-care certification and scope-of-practice provisions.
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