Vermont lawmakers made a clear decision in 2023 to rewrite their own compensation, expand their benefits, and establish a multi-year pay structure that continues to increase, and in 2026 voted to decline participation in a federal program offering up to $1,700 in tax credits for education scholarships.
The increase in compensation came through S.39 (2023), a bill that did more than adjust legislator pay. It reset the baseline for how members of the General Assembly are compensated going forward.
Under the law, rank-and-file legislators are set to receive approximately $1,000 per week in 2025 and $1,100 per week in 2026. Those amounts are not static. They include additional adjustments tied to compensation increases provided to constitutional officers, meaning the final numbers will be higher once those adjustments are applied.
Beyond 2026, the statute establishes a higher ongoing baseline beginning in the 2027 biennium. At that point, weekly compensation is set at $1,210, again with additional adjustments tied to prior years. The structure ensures that the increases carry forward rather than reverting after a single cycle.
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Salary and Benefits Structure
The compensation changes were not limited to weekly pay.
S.39 also expanded the broader benefits package available to legislators. Members of the General Assembly became eligible for the state employee health insurance plan, paying the same premium share as executive branch employees.
In addition to salary and health coverage, the law maintains and formalizes several forms of reimbursement and compensation tied to legislative service:
- Mileage reimbursement for travel between a legislator’s home and Montpelier, or for other officially sanctioned legislative business, paid at the federal reimbursement rate
- Meals allowance or reimbursement, allowing members to either take a standardized daily payment or submit actual expenses up to a federal limit
- Lodging allowance or reimbursement, structured similarly to meals, covering overnight stays associated with legislative duties
- Adjournment compensation, which provides additional pay during periods when the Legislature is not in session but members are still engaged in official work
- Per diem-style compensation tied to certain meetings, committees, or official duties outside regular session days
- Stipends for new members, including compensation for attending orientation sessions
- Access to employee-style financial programs, such as flexible spending accounts for health care or dependent care expenses
These components combine to form a compensation structure that includes both direct pay and reimbursed or subsidized expenses tied to legislative work.
“Average Wage” as a Benchmark
The law includes a stated intent that legislative compensation should be “consistent with the amount of the average wage earned in this State.”
The statute does not define what “average wage” means.
In economic terms, “average” can refer to multiple measures. The mean is calculated by adding all wages and dividing by the number of workers. Because higher earners can pull that number upward, the mean often exceeds what many workers actually earn.
The median, by contrast, represents the midpoint of all wages—half of workers earn more and half earn less—and is commonly used to approximate a typical worker’s earnings.
Recent Vermont labor data places the median annual wage slightly above $52,000, or roughly $1,000 per week. The mean annual wage is higher, reflecting the distribution of earnings across industries and occupations.
At approximately $1,100 per week in 2026, the base legislative salary falls above the median and below some measures of the mean, depending on the dataset used.
Because the statute does not specify which measure applies, the phrase “average wage” remains open to interpretation.
Ongoing Adjustments and Future Increases
The compensation structure adopted in S.39 is designed to continue adjusting over time.
Weekly pay for legislators is linked to future changes in compensation for constitutional officers. In addition, statutory revisions establish a higher base beginning in the 2027 biennium, incorporating prior adjustments into the new starting point.
As a result, legislative compensation is not fixed at the 2025 or 2026 levels. Instead, it is structured to increase periodically based on external benchmarks defined in statute.
Separate Action on Scholarship Tax Credits
In 2026, lawmakers also advanced H.933, which includes language prohibiting Vermont from participating in a federal scholarship tax credit program.
The federal program allows taxpayers to receive up to $1,700 in tax credits for donations to organizations that provide scholarships to students. The structure is intended to encourage private contributions to offset education costs.
According to reporting by FYIVT, the Vermont bill specifies that the state “shall not participate” in the program and places authority over the decision within the General Assembly.
The same reporting indicates that fiscal analysis did not assign a quantified financial impact to the decision to opt out.
Policy Actions in Context
The two measures address different areas of policy but were enacted within a similar timeframe.
S.39 established compensation levels for legislators, expanded access to benefits, and created a structure for ongoing adjustments tied to future pay changes.
H.933 addresses whether Vermont will participate in a federal program designed to incentivize private donations for education-related scholarships.
Together, the measures reflect legislative decisions regarding compensation, benefits, and participation in external funding mechanisms related to education.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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