Lawmakers debate CTE credit mandates, data-broker fees and education appropriations in multiple committee meetings
A series of legislative committee meetings on May 28 covered changes to career and technical education (CTE) policy, an expansion of data-broker registration and fee structures, and amendments to education-related appropriations. Committees heard bill language revisions, budget figures and implementation details across Education, Finance and Appropriations panels.
Education (Senate Education; multiple sessions)
Senate Education reviewed House proposals of amendment to several bills, including S.313 and S.131, and discussed changes the House made to Senate language on career and technical education.
Committee materials showed a redline of S.313 comparing the Senate-passed version with the House proposal of amendment and identified edits to the bill’s findings and intent sections. The House preserved the Senate’s initial finding sentence and reworded other findings, and retained the Senate intent section with adjustments to one subdivision to read "Providing Consistate and Admissions Policies" and added a phrase allowing "program specific requirements related to readiness, sequencing, and safety."
Members highlighted a provision intended to ensure access to CTE: a subdivision stating that no student "may be placed on a waitlist or prevented from accessing CTE for lack of capacity," while qualifying that an alternative program that aligns with the student’s intended program of study could be used where viable.
A separate amendment discussed in the committee would change Title 16 statute language on how CTE grades and credits transfer to a student’s home school. Where the statute previously referenced "grades," the draft updates that to include "proficiencies" to reflect a proficiency-based grading system. The amendment would remove local discretion by requiring all school districts to apply credits or proficiencies earned in CTE toward graduation requirements, replacing the current school-board discretion to determine whether CTE credits apply to graduation.
Members also debated broader education-transformation language in the bill, including redefining "comprehensive high school" to expand the concept as Vermont works to transform CTE to increase access, quality and opportunity, and discussed removing a proposed summer study committee that the House deleted.
Finance (Senate Finance; 12:15 and 13:30 sessions)
Finance committee sessions focused heavily on bills updating regulation and fees for data brokers and on other fiscal proposals.
Witnesses and staff described H.211 (and related H.2 language) as expanding the Secretary of State’s registration and oversight of data brokers and EdTech providers. The registration fee would increase from $100 to $900 under the draft discussed. Committee testimony cited the current registry count of 283 data brokers and estimated that raising the fee to $900 would increase annual revenue to roughly $254,700 from the existing $28,300 level. A $50,000 appropriation for a study of deletion/opt‑out mechanisms was included in House language discussed by committees.
The committee record included detail on penalties and new registration requirements. Current penalties for failing to register were described as $50 per day; the draft bill would add administrative penalties that could raise nonregistration fines to $200 per day. The draft also would require registrants to maintain a bond of $20,000 and to provide expanded contact and operational information to the Secretary of State, and it moves some opt‑out and deletion-related provisions to study and implementation phases rather than creating an immediate government-hosted deletion mechanism.
Committee members referenced other states’ approaches and costs for opt‑out platforms. Testimony noted California’s registration fee of about $6,600 and described California’s deletion mechanism as costly to build, framing the House’s $50,000 appropriation as funding a consultant-led study to assess options, including potential coordination with California’s system. The draft report on a study was described as due by 12/01/2028 in Appropriations committee language.
Finance committee discussion also covered timing and implementation details for EdTech registration language, including a request to set an effective date of 01/01/2027 for certain provisions to allow system updates.
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Appropriations (Senate Appropriations; multiple sessions)
Appropriations hearings centered on education transformation funding, changes to Act 73 appropriations and a suite of education- and construction-related appropriations and transfers tied to H.955 and budget language.
Joint Fiscal Office materials summarized Act 73 appropriations as the committee received them. The packet presented an initial Act 73 set of appropriations totaling $2,865,000 that included transition grants and contractual services amounts. Committee staff explained changes in the conference language that reduced contractual services at the Agency of Education while increasing funding available for transition grants; the document described those adjustments as a net neutral change of 1,252,500 in one discussion box.
Appropriations testimony described requests to restore an Agency of Education appropriation to $2,100,000 and noted additional requests, including a $130,000 appropriation to fund a limited-service position at the State Board of Education tied to education transformation work. The committee record also referenced a $1,300,000 general-fund appropriation to the Agency of Transportation for disaster relief and discussion of shifting that amount to a pilot special fund to free up general-fund resources.
Other education-related budget items in committee materials included $75,000 for a pre-K financing report for the fiscal office, four positions at the Agency of Education for the school construction division, and a $900,000 transfer to the school construction aid special fund; those items were grouped in a list of additional appropriations totaling $1,475,000 in one document.
Appropriations members also reviewed language moving a rural industry development grant program from session law into statute, with transitional protections for previously awarded grants and a reimbursement rate of 50% for invoices not fully paid out prior to an effective date, as reflected in committee materials.
Separately, Appropriations and Finance members discussed the data-broker bill’s budget implications, including the $50,000 consultant appropriation in the House draft and estimates of additional fee revenue if registration fees are raised.
Natural Resources & Energy
Natural Resources & Energy committee discussion included review of study language and data needs tied to a certificate-of-public-good process and environmental assessments. Committee members said they worked with the Public Utility Commission, Department of Public Service and ANR to narrow study scope to data the agencies could reasonably produce.
House Education
House Education held a session to consider Senate amendments to a miscellaneous education bill and ran through provisions the committee had passed earlier. Committee minutes noted adjustments to a moratorium on new independent schools, inclusion of an interstate compact, and expanded criminal background checks for Agency of Education employees among the items the committee reported out.
Conclusion
Meetings on May 28 across the Senate and House Education, Senate Finance and Senate Appropriations committees addressed modifications to CTE access and credit-transfer language, an expansion of data-broker registration, fee and penalty structures with associated study funding, and multiple education appropriation and budget-realignment items tied to Act 73 and H.955. Committees discussed statutory language, implementation dates, and fiscal impacts as part of their review of the bills and budget documents.
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