Lawmakers Hear Wide Range of Budget, Education, Health and Housing Testimony in Multiple Committee Sessions
Lawmaker panels on Feb. 25 heard testimony on education restructuring and school consolidation proposals, budget pressures across multiple state departments, changes to tax treatment for manufactured homes, health care access and primary care payment design, and a large homelessness and housing services proposal. Committees that gathered included Senate and House education panels, the Senate and House appropriations committees, Senate Finance, House Ways & Means, the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee, and health-related committees.
Senate Education (13:35)
The Senate Education Committee received extensive public testimony on proposals that would promote regional cooperative education service areas and on mapping and merger policy tied to recent Acts. Speakers urged that supervisory unions (SUs) and supervisory districts (SDs) work cooperatively to form cooperative education service areas and asked that that work be completed "by no later than 07/01/2027" so the entities could become operational quickly to address efficiencies identified in prior reports. Testimony referenced Act 68 and the Redistricting Task Force report, and support was voiced for a hybrid mapping approach tied to Act 73 and a bill identified in committee materials as H.454.
Witnesses discussed potential cost savings from regionalization, including shared special-education programming and transportation contracting. One witness noted prior consolidation under Act 46 and warned of the time and difficulty of past mergers. Testimony recommended using models such as BOCES-type collaborative arrangements for specialized instruction, and some speakers called for voluntary mergers after establishing regional service structures rather than compulsory district consolidations.
Panel members and witnesses also addressed governance and local representation concerns if larger supervisory structures are created, the role of universal pre-K under Act 166, and the interaction of new mapping proposals with local governance and school boards.
Senate Appropriations (13:30)
Appropriations committee hearings focused on departmental budgets and spending pressures. Witnesses described budget composition and drivers including vacancy turnover savings and rising personnel costs. One department overview compared fiscal years and said the FY‑27 budget included about $217,000 in vacancy turnover savings and removed three previously budgeted positions; it also listed year‑over‑year increases such as retirement costs up 4.1%, healthcare up 10%, other fringe benefits up almost 9.5%, and internal service fund charges up 5.6%. A presentation noted that roughly 87% of one department’s budget is salaries and benefits and cited heavy reliance on gross receipts tax receipts.
Appropriations testimony also covered specific program spending. The panel heard that a state’s attorney or defender office paid an expert expense of $31,000 in one case and that expert witness costs strain budgets; one witness recommended an additional $100,000 for an expert witness fund above a current fund level described as $140,000. The committee discussed grant pass‑throughs for sexual‑assault intervention units (SIUs), noting program administration primarily uses one staff position and that SIU funding increases were being treated as essentially level funded with a 3% adjustment; law enforcement staffing shortages were cited as affecting SIU operations.
The Judiciary‑related testimony discussed court security arrangements and sheriff duties under Act 30 and referenced interagency contracts for court and transport services.
Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs (10:15)
Testimony to the Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee covered housing, land use, recreation and economic development funding. Witnesses described local housing development barriers, permitting and zoning challenges, and the role of conserved lands and recreation in the state economy. The committee heard that federal Land and Water Conservation Fund investments since 2016 totaled about $11,000,000 for recreation projects and that trail and recreation programs drive significant visitation.
One witness discussed a proposal to add $75,000 for trade representation in Taiwan to attract foreign direct investment, and committee presenters said contracting rather than a full‑time hire could be an initial approach. The committee also examined language from Act 181 related to water and sewer service areas and referenced Act 47 in testimony on municipal planning priorities.
Senate Health & Welfare (10:15) and Senate Health & Welfare (09:00)
Health committees took up S.197 and related proposals to expand access to primary care and to establish payment design and accountability. Testimony for S.197 included data points about Vermont’s health coverage: one presentation cited that roughly 168,000 Vermonters — about 26% of the population — are covered by Medicaid/Green Mountain Care, and that current analyses identify substantial shares of births, children and nursing‑home residents covered by Medicaid. The same testimony noted an estimate that up to 45,000 Vermonters could be at risk of losing coverage or facing large premium increases under federal changes cited in the testimony, and that the state’s uninsured rate could rise from about 3% to 6% under a cited federal scenario.
Insurers and provider groups testified on S.197’s design choices, saying definitions of primary care, whether payments target activity or outcomes, and how accountability is structured will determine whether the bill modernizes preventive care or merely redistributes existing spending. Testimony addressed Medicaid, Medicare savings programs, qualified health plans, and potential state actions such as conditioning qualified health plan approval on demonstrable investment in primary care and requiring first‑dollar coverage for primary care visits in some plans.
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At the earlier Health & Welfare morning panel, the committee took testimony on a licensure pathway bill, S.142, to establish an additional licensure option for internationally trained physicians; supporters testified about physician workforce shortages and called for an additional pathway.
House Ways & Means (13:25)
The House Ways & Means Committee heard a bill package that includes tax changes affecting manufactured homes and related property‑transfer taxes. Department of Tax presenters estimated exempting certain manufactured home transactions from sales tax would reduce Education Fund revenue by about $600,000 in fiscal year 2027 and roughly $650,000 annually thereafter, and that treating some transactions as subject to the property transfer tax could produce about $100,000 in additional property transfer tax revenue. Committee discussion included changes to definitions, exemptions, and conforming reporting and filing mechanics tied to manufactured homes and related limited equity cooperative issues.
The committee also discussed provisions affecting education debt and excess spending calculations, noting how debt service treated in the statewide education fund and the homestead yield formula affects local tax rates and taxpayer burdens.
Senate Finance (13:30)
Finance committee sessions included testimony on a bill addressing payment card interchange and point‑of‑sale tax and tip treatment. Witnesses described prior litigation and legislative efforts in other states, discussed the mechanics of interchange fees and the roles of issuers, networks and processors, and raised implementation and technology concerns about separating taxes and tips from transaction amounts. The committee also held testimony on federal tax law changes and options for Vermont to decouple from some federal provisions; presenters explained the interaction of bonus depreciation, research and development deductions, and qualified small business stock exclusions with Vermont tax revenues and described administrative and effective‑date considerations for state tax conformity.
House Appropriations (13:05)
The House Appropriations Committee reviewed H.542 and related funding matters including the state PCB indoor air testing program for schools. Committee testimony traced the 2021 session language requiring school PCB testing and the subsequent appropriations and shifting deadlines. Witnesses summarized prior appropriations amounts and the program’s use of federal funding to support testing and remediation; testimony stated that H.542 would terminate ongoing State testing activity for PCBs unless prior testing had identified action‑level exceedances, in which case the state would continue testing and appropriate funding could be required. Committee members also discussed broader budget timing and resource allocation for FY‑27.
House Education (13:15) and later Senate Education (15:10)
House Education received testimony from teachers, school staff and CTE representatives about workforce, early‑education and student supports. Presenters discussed universal school meals, classroom supports for special education, career and technical education capacity constraints (including turn‑away rates), and workforce recruitment and housing challenges for educators. Several witnesses tied the cost of health care and the structure of education funding to educator retention and local fiscal pressures, and some urged tax or health‑care financing changes to reduce pressure on education budgets. Act 73 and Act 166 were referenced in multiple presentations.
A later Senate Education session included classroom testimony and community perspectives on school size, local governance, and recruitment concerns, with speakers urging policy attention to housing and workforce alignment with education needs.
House Human Services (13:00)
The Human Services Committee reviewed a comprehensive draft to create a statutory homelessness response continuum, including prevention and diversion services, specialized shelter services, highly structured shelter services and hotel/motel use and rates. The draft establishes definitions and layered service levels, directs the Department to contract with community partners regionally, requires standardized prevention and diversion assessments, and directs the Department to set goals and report on increased housing capacity as part of its budget presentations. The draft also contemplates program design features such as two‑year contracting terms for community partners, fire and building safety compliance, and case management requirements tied to placements. Committee discussion noted the intent to reduce reliance on hotel and motel placements while ensuring interim supports and compliance with safety codes.
Conclusion
These committee sessions on Feb. 25 covered a broad set of legislative issues including education governance and regional service proposals, departmental and program budget pressures, proposed tax treatment changes for manufactured homes, design and financing questions for primary‑care expansion, energy and housing policy matters, and a detailed homelessness response statutory draft. Committees involved included Senate and House education panels, the Senate and House appropriations committees, the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways & Means Committee, and health and human services committees; the testimony addressed mandates, spending, taxes, authority and program design across education, health, housing and related areas.
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