Vermont Government Affairs Update- April 15, 2025

As April 15^th arrives taxes are being filed, its getting warmer outside and legislators may be seeking an early exit this year. The legislative session in Vermont generally runs January through the end of May. Occasionally it creeps into the month of June if agreements on budgeting or other big-ticket items have completed and sometimes, they return in June to address gubernatorial vetoes. This year K-12 education funding and a housing crisis were the top priorities of most but as we lurch through the session it seems agreement on these are still far away. If the legislators are unable to continue with those larger items, its likely they’ll just move the “must pass” bills like the general budget, transportation funding and normal technical corrections.

The House passed a 176-page education bill that will significantly change the way education is funded and delivered across the state. The bill includes a timeline to impose school closing requirements, changes and consolidation of school districts, new property tax brackets and much much more. It took the house almost 4 months to craft the policy and technically it has not been passed prior to “crossover” so rules would likely have to be suspended for the Senate to take up the bill. As of today, the Senate Pro Tem has not signaled that they have enough time to take a deep dive into the bill which likely means it will be shelved until next year. Since the “yield bill” which sets the 2026 statewide property tax for education has already passed, nothing will change until next year regardless.

Housing has been a slow-moving policy as well. The same actors on behalf of housing and environmental protections are working hard together (and opposed) to expand on work that had been done to create different zones recognized under Act 250 Vermont’s landmark development regulation and find ways to financially support the “missing middle” income earners in home purchases. For those watching closely it consistently feels like one foot forward two feet back in terms of reaching a goal everyone can agree to.

The appeals process of Act 250 permitting has been at the most recent focus. The governor’s original proposition was to change the appeals process “standing” from 20 people in a community to 20% of the community to challenge a permit. Attorneys opposed to the 20% policy have suggested that changing grounds for standing from simply the current “allegation of harm” from a development to “realized injury” that would have to be proven would be the best solution to stop inappropriate appeals from the NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) population who has been blamed for a lack of smart development leading to the housing crisis.

Whether its dealing with disagreements to education funding or how to build more houses, one thing people are well aware of is that May is two weeks away. Will we see an extended legislative session to deal with these issues, or quick adjournment? Some would argue that swift adjournment and returning next year to deal with these issues would be best because they involve only 4-5 committees working on the policies. This would leave the other committees open, with more time, to cook up special interest bills that some may like, and others may not!