Lawmakers Debate Mandates, Authority and Spending Across Multiple Committees — Feb. 26, 2026
Legislative committees on Feb. 26 heard detailed presentations and stakeholder testimony on bills and draft proposals that would change provider authority in mental-health emergency care, expand exemptions and regulation for forestry and farming, adjust professional regulation and fees for massage establishments, allocate opioid-abatement settlement dollars, update adult protective services definitions, and establish statewide graduation requirements for high school diplomas. Committees focused on mandates, changes to regulatory authority, and fiscal impacts in hearings across Health Care, Environment, Ways & Means, General & Housing, Appropriations, Human Services and Education.
Health Care (H.573; Health Care Committee)
The House Health Care Committee considered H.573, a bill addressing access to involuntary inpatient psychiatric care and who may perform the statutory “first certification.” Emily Hawes, commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, testified that mental health emergency care should include the “highest standards and safeguards” because involuntary hospitalization is a setting where fundamental rights can be removed. Witnesses described current practice in emergency departments as the primary route to inpatient care and raised concerns that expanding the list of provider types authorized to initiate the involuntary process could lower the clinical threshold for depriving someone of liberty. Disability Rights Vermont indicated conditional support for expanding who may do first certifications, while urging safeguards such as limiting emergency-department-based certifications and adding procedural protections; some witnesses opposed reducing the physician requirement for initial certification, saying it would reduce the level of clinical training required before restricting a person’s liberty.
Committee discussion also addressed parity questions about provider scopes and whether adding provider types would increase access to treatment or simply accelerate entry into a process that restricts rights. Witnesses described operational challenges in emergency departments, differences across rural and urban hospitals, and concerns about judicial oversight at the stage when an application for emergency examination and a physician certificate authorize detention and admission without a judge’s involvement.
Environment (forestry, zoning, and H.152)
House Environment heard multiple bills and drafts addressing municipal authority, zoning, and exemptions for forestry and agriculture. Legislative counsel and stakeholders reviewed a draft amending Act 250 exemptions to bring logging and forestry language closer to statutory treatment already afforded farming, including clarifying that no permit or permit amendment would be required for logging and forestry below 2,500 feet that does not conflict with permit terms. The draft also would restore log and pulp concentration yards to exempt status and add statutory definitions for logging and forestry.
Committee members discussed a Supreme Court interpretation of the statute that limits municipal regulation of required agricultural practices but does not categorically bar municipal regulation of farming. The committee examined language carving out municipal authority to regulate farming in Tier 1A and Tier 1B areas identified for development and housing, and a proposed stakeholder study for the Agency of Agriculture to report on municipal regulation of agriculture, including model ordinances and impacts on farm succession and regional food security, with an agency report due December 2026 noted in testimony.
Separately, the Environment Committee reviewed H.152 language establishing a one‑year pilot permit process authorizing the Agency of Natural Resources to approve temporary pilot or demonstration projects to test technologies to treat or destroy emerging contaminants, with statutory “notwithstanding” language that could suspend certain permitting requirements for pilot projects and that would require applicants to describe operations, monitoring, and anticipated environmental impacts. Members questioned how such authorizations would interact with existing permit conditions and whether they would suspend other statutory permit requirements.
The House Environment and a separate Environment session also took up proposals addressing posting and trespass signage, including debate over whether dated signage should be required to support trespass prosecutions and enforcement, and whether penalties for damaging signs and related enforcement capacity are adequate.
Ways & Means (H.588; professional regulation and fees)
The House Ways & Means Committee reviewed H.588, a miscellaneous Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) bill that would broaden OPR authority in several areas and expand which entities or establishments must pay registration or establishment fees for regulated services such as massage therapy. Legislative counsel outlined provisions enabling OPR to rescind licenses under certain administrative circumstances, to enforce against attempted fraudulent procurement of credentials, and to conduct sunrise reviews for regulating assistance for speech-language pathologists. Testimony from a massage therapist and from fiscal staff addressed fee structures: establishment registration and renewal fees for massage establishments were discussed, with OPR estimating that about 150 establishments would pay the proposed establishment fee, translating to an estimated $15,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2027 and higher revenues when renewals occur in later years. Witnesses flagged duplication and burdens for small businesses if both practitioner and establishment fees apply.
Ways & Means members examined fiscal notes and OPR’s ongoing study of its funding model, noting special‑fund enterprise constraints and variability across regulated professions. The committee also considered OPR’s regulatory recommendations for midwifery advisory committee changes and sunrise review requirements for certain professions.
General & Housing (H.728, S.33; evictions, tenant rights, housing spending)
The House General & Housing Committee reviewed multiple housing-related drafting changes and appropriations language. Committee staff outlined technical amendments to eviction-related sections, including clarifications on disposal of tenant property after eviction and stay-of-execution language. Members discussed potential appropriations tied to housing supports, including a noted $600,000 sum in a draft for the Department for Children and Families to grant to community action agencies for liaison work with landlords and tenants. Committee members debated eviction process changes that aim to balance landlord sector functioning and tenant protections, and flagged competing budget priorities where “to the extent funds are available” language commonly appears in appropriations.
🍁 Make a One-Time Contribution — Stand Up for Accountability in Vermont 🍁
Appropriations (H.660; Opioid Abatement Special Fund)
The House Appropriations Committee held a multipart discussion of H.660, a standalone bill summarizing FY2027 appropriations from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund and the Substance Misuse Prevention Special Fund. Committee members described a blended package of programmatic investments drawn from settlement dollars and prevention funding. The bill’s FY27 allocations, presented in detail by staff, include outreach and case‑management positions, transitional housing support grants, regional public safety enhancement coordinators, satellite medication dosing sites, telehealth pilots for wound care tied to injection drug use, and several youth prevention and early‑intervention grants funded from the prevention special fund.
Appropriators noted a mix of one‑time and ongoing proposals, technical adjustments to prior appropriations, an emphasis on sustainability planning for programs that may require continued funding beyond settlement dollars, and an instruction to pause new appropriations in 2028 except for specified annual priorities so the committee can review outcomes for prior funded initiatives. The committee recorded estimated reversions and appropriations totals and discussed fund balance and the possibility of an additional significant settlement payment still under negotiation.
Human Services (H.582; adult protective services)
House Human Services reviewed H.582, a bill making changes to the Adult Protective Services (APS) chapter in Title 33. Legislative counsel and the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living described a major update to the statutory definition of neglect to bring Vermont into alignment with federal rules. Testimony outlined stakeholder negotiations that produced compromise language intended to align with federal requirements while addressing concerns from healthcare providers about workforce implications. Committee materials also noted corrections to appeals timeframes and the stakeholder process that produced the draft statutory language.
Witnesses from licensing and provider groups described substantive implementation work that will follow statutory changes, including regulatory and policy reviews. The draft also includes provisions for memoranda of understanding and reporting pathways between APS and other agencies in certain reporting scenarios.
Education (S.119, S.2120; statewide graduation requirements and Act 73)
The House Education Committee reviewed recommendations and a comprehensive report related to statewide graduation requirements, implementation of Act 73, and other education policy items. Agency speakers described findings from U.S. Department of Education monitoring that identified uneven rigor across local flexible pathway programs and graduation requirements and noted that Vermont’s approach had allowed substantial local variation. The agency recommended a move to a credit-based framework and proposed minimum statewide criteria to ensure consistent rigor across districts.
Committee discussion covered proposed content-area expectations, credits for arts and health, financial literacy, world language considerations, career and technical education (CTE) access and credits, and the implementation and transition work needed to support districts. Members emphasized the need for clearer statewide guidance, implementation supports, and consideration of staffing and capacity impacts, particularly for CTE and smaller districts. The committee also discussed longer-term topics such as regional high schools, consolidation, and financing implications for potential construction or reconfiguration of school facilities.
Other committee actions and crosscutting issues
Senate Health & Welfare reviewed S.2 draft language to license prescribing psychologists, adding board responsibilities for curriculum and clinical rotation standards and setting an effective date for prescriptive authority in 2029, with a reporting requirement on workforce and collaborative practitioner availability. The House Energy & Digital Infrastructure committee continued deliberations on H.17 and related drafts addressing residential building and energy standards, including municipal enforcement authority, a residential contractor registry task force, and RGGI-funded appropriations for task force and public‑service technical support.
Across multiple committees, witnesses and staff repeatedly focused on mandates and who holds authority to regulate professional practice or land use, the fiscal impacts of proposed new fees or appropriations, and penalties and enforcement challenges tied to statutory definitions or permit suspensions. Several hearings highlighted stakeholder processes and the need for implementation planning where statutory change would require rulemaking, training, or administrative capacity.
Conclusion
This report covers multiple Feb. 26 committee hearings in the Vermont Legislature, including Health Care, Environment, Ways & Means, General & Housing, Appropriations, Human Services, and Education. Committees examined proposed statutory changes and draft bills addressing mandates, regulatory authority, penalties, and spending across health care, forestry and agricultural zoning, professional regulation and fees, housing and eviction processes, opioid-abatement appropriations, adult protective services, and statewide education requirements.
FYIVTBOT | FYIVT
You can find FYIVT on YouTube | X(Twitter) | Facebook | Instagram
#fyivt #vtleg #goldendome #vermontpolitics
Support Us for as Little as $5 – Get In The Fight!!
Make a Big Impact with $25/month—Become a Premium Supporter!
Join the Top Tier of Supporters with $50/month—Become a SUPER Supporter!
Subscribe to RSS
Leave a Reply