Lawmakers Hear Wide Array of Funding, Education, Environment and Health Proposals in Multiple Committee Meetings
Lawmakers across House and Senate committees on Feb. 25 reviewed a slate of bills and budget requests touching education standards and funding, changes to unclaimed property and retirement administration, proposals on property posting and PFAS-laden landfill leachate, and regulation of artificial intelligence in health care. Committees also heard appeals for appropriations to housing- and food-security programs and debated tax conformity and federal changes affecting state revenue.
Education (House Education, multiple sessions)
The House Education Committee considered testimony tied to H.813 and multiple prior acts including Act 73, Act 74, Act 46 and Act 127. Witnesses and members discussed the education quality standards and district quality standards now in effect, noting those rules govern public schools’ obligations on open enrollment, admission screening, records, budgets, discipline policies, staffing and licensed special educators.
Speakers emphasized that public institutions are required to be both socially and fiscally responsible to the public and urged review of existing Agency of Education and State Board rules. Panelists referenced Act 127 in the context of funding that “went into effect and we’re undoing that,” and presented graduation-rate data from 2017–2025 drawn from the Vermont Education Dashboard and the secretary’s report.
Testimony also addressed the intersections of public funding, private independent schools and accountability. Participants said publicly funded schooling carries accountability requirements, and that when private institutions accept public funds they enter the public domain and must comply with applicable rules. Act 46 and its predecessors (Act 153 and Act 1) were cited in recounting statutory changes that consolidated SU responsibilities and tightened operating requirements for public districts.
Appropriations (House Appropriations, multiple sessions)
The Appropriations Committee reviewed H.567 and heard extensive detail on proposed adjustments to unclaimed property administration, pension and retirement oversight, and several budget requests.
On unclaimed property, members discussed language to sunset a diversion of small unclaimed-property transfers from the Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund to a Vermont Saves fund and to adjust thresholds that govern claims processing. Committee testimony described a fast-claims process under which the Treasurer’s Office may streamline documentation for claims under a stated dollar threshold, and noted projected unclaimed-property transfers to the general fund in FY27.
The bill would create three classified positions in the Treasurer’s Office — two program technicians in Unclaimed Property and one policy and research manager in the retirement division — with funding sourced from special funds, including unclaimed property proceeds and the retirement systems.
Sections moving administrative and fiduciary responsibility for other post-employment benefits from the State Treasurer to the Vermont Pension Investment Commission (VPIC) were discussed. Committee testimony also described authority to assess penalties and interest against municipal employers for late retirement payments, including a penalty rate described in the hearing as 1% of the amount due per month, subject to board waiver.
Appropriations members heard multiple funding requests during the 11:00 session. Requests called for $2.0 million in base funding for the Healthy Homes Initiative, $182,000 to support Child and Adult Care Food Program sponsors, $5.0 million for Vermont Food Bank programs broken into multiple buckets, and a $15.6 million appropriation for a Farm and Forest Operations Security Special Fund tied to S.60 and companion bill H.229. Representatives also urged reinstatement of $1.5 million in Reach Up funding for designated agencies and requested increases to the free and referral clinic grant maximum, including a $462,500 general-fund component to be matched with federal Medicaid administrative dollars.
Environment (House Environment, two sessions)
Environment Committee hearings focused prominently on a proposed change to statutes governing posting land against hunting, fishing and trapping that would permit paint markings — commonly described in testimony as “purple paint” — in addition to notice signs. The draft amendment described in testimony would allow a single painted line of purple paint, specified at a minimum length and placement height, as an alternative posting method; paint markings would be effective at intervals not exceeding 100 feet, while notice signs would remain effective at intervals not exceeding 400 feet. The measure also would require annual recording of postings with town clerks and retain a $5 recording fee in materials discussed.
Witnesses and lawmakers debated access, visibility and legal consequences. Supporters said paint markings could ease the burden of annual sign posting and deter opportunistic removal of signs; opponents raised concerns about color blindness, interference with trail and forestry paint markings, public notice, and potential confusion. Committee members discussed enforcement options, including creating Fish and Wildlife violations for willful removal of legally established notices.
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The committee also discussed draft language prohibiting discharge of landfill leachate containing PFAS into watershed waters. Members and witnesses described ongoing practices of trucking leachate from active and closed landfills to treatment facilities and expressed concern about the adequacy of existing treatment technologies. Testimony described local efforts to apply on-site treatment technologies and noted uncertainty about whether a blanket prohibition on discharge would prevent the release of treated water meeting removal standards. Lawmakers asked whether the bill’s language would bar future discharges of leachate treated to remove PFAS.
Human Services (House Human Services)
The Human Services Committee reviewed H.657, described in testimony as an omnibus Department for Children and Families bill addressing Reach Up asset limits, services for unaccompanied homeless youth, and multiple child welfare and juvenile justice provisions. Testimony said H.657 would eliminate the $9,000 asset limit for Reach Up eligibility and would establish standardized certification forms to allow unaccompanied homeless youth to access identification, vital records and health care services without parental consent.
The bill also includes provisions on transportation and restraints for children in DCF custody. Committee witnesses described rulemaking to prohibit seclusion and restraint for disciplinary reasons, permit seclusion and restraint only to prevent imminent serious bodily harm, require least-restrictive approaches, and align DCF rules with CMS standards for psychiatric settings. The legislation would require supervisory review of decisions to use mechanical restraints, mandate documentation and debriefing after use, require soft restraints as a first option for transport, and require DCF to report annually on secure transports and restraint use.
Committee members discussed how proposed changes intersect with federal requirements and existing practice and noted related conforming language across licensing, fees and other statutory provisions.
Health Care (House Health Care)
The House Health Care Committee took up a set of health and human services proposals, including bills addressing “neurological rights” and the use of generative AI and other automated decision systems in health care.
Witnesses expressed support for establishing neurological-rights language and for restricting or studying use of AI chatbots in therapeutic contexts. Testimony on H.1814 noted support from professional associations and raised questions about definitions and the scope of provisions connecting neurological privacy, generative AI, and regulated professions.
On AI, committee members and executive-branch witnesses described executive-branch policies that require transparency and human review of AI outputs, an inventory of automated decision systems, and guidance that AI-driven actions with public impact must be transient and reversible. Health-care providers described internal policies that permit AI for drafting, transcription and administrative support, but require human review and clinical judgment for final decisions and patient recommendations. Committee discussion included proposed notice requirements for generative AI and differing approaches to whether reviewed AI outputs should be exempt from notice rules.
Ways & Means (House Ways & Means)
The Ways & Means Committee reviewed federal tax conformity and the state’s approach to HR1 (the federal legislation referenced in testimony). Members discussed provisions that alter corporate deductions and depreciation rules, including expanded immediate deduction of research-and-development expenses and changes to corporate charitable deduction floors and qualified small-business stock treatment. Staff described that Vermont’s static conformity framework and the timing of state linkage to federal code could result in material revenue impacts, and noted an estimate of an $18.9 million revenue effect cited in committee discussion and a referenced $21 million revenue change not included in the governor’s budget.
Committee staff flagged elements expected to flow through to state revenue — research-and-experimental expense treatment, bonus depreciation and foreign derived intangible income changes — and outlined ongoing coordination with the tax department on updated federal information and revenue assumptions.
Conclusion
House and Senate committee sessions on Feb. 25 covered a broad set of topics across education, appropriations, environment, human services, health care and tax policy. Committees addressed school rules and funding, adjustments to unclaimed property and retirement governance, proposals on property posting and PFAS leachate, protections and regulation around artificial intelligence in health services, and multiple budget and grant requests presented to Appropriations.
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