Skip to Main Content

Advocacy Update – Week 7 – 2026

Lake Champlain Chamber News and Press Advocacy Update Legislative Updates Advocacy Update – Week 7 – 2026

Thank you to this week’s sponsor of our Advocacy Update:

February 20, 2026

Some big news as we write this today, as the Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 to strike down the Trump Administration’s Global Tariffs. We’re fielding media inquiries as you read this. How is this affecting you? Share with us by reaching out to [email protected] 

As we come into week seven, we thought it would be worth laying out the legislative timeline for the rest of the year. 

  • Town meeting day – March 3rd, and the Legislature  will be on recess for the week as Vermonters participate in democracy, and there is a lot on the ballot around the state, which we’ll cover some of this week. 
  • Crossover – When they get back, it will be a mad dash to the Friday, March 13, crossover deadline by which legislation needs to be passed out of its committee of jurisdiction or be called done for the year. 
  • Money bill crossover – the following Friday will be the same deadline for bills that need to go through the money committees. 
  • Adjournment – These deadlines ensure the Legislature can adjourn around mid-May; however, this session could drag on amid the education debate and the Governor’s threat to veto a budget without new school district maps. 
  • Filing deadlines – A reason that folks might want to get out early, however, is that this is an election year, and between filing opening on April 27  and closing on May 28 we’ll see many new entrants into the political races.  Many have already announced their candidacy, and we expect many retirements, with some high-level legislators already sharing that they will not seek re-election. 
  • Veto Session – Sometime in June, we’ll expect a veto session to be scheduled to revisit legislation vetoed by the Governor, or even possibly finish legislation, as was the case last year when the pre-scheduled reconvening was used to give legislators more time to iron out a deal on education.  
  • Fiscal year – Vermont’s fiscal year starts July 1st, so this serves as the hardest and most non-negotiable deadline for the Vermont legislature, as they need budgets and tax bills done by this date. 
  • August primary – Then, it’s all campaigning up to the August 11th primary, which, for some districts, will be the only contested portion of the election cycle. 
  • Election – Finally, on November 3rd, we’ll see how Vermonters feel elected officials have done and know who will pick up and carry the ongoing work for the State. 

In this week’s update: 

We strive to make these concise and easy to read. Feedback is not just welcomed, it’s encouraged – [email protected] 

LCC Legislative Breakfast Series

Every year, we bring legislators, policymakers, and LCC members together to celebrate business ownership and entrepreneurship and advocate for economic opportunity for our region. Sponsored by EastRise Credit Union, our Legislative Breakfasts are opportunities to connect with legislators and those in higher office.

January Legislative Breakfast

  • When: Tentatively Rescheduled to April 20th! 
  • Where: The Nine | 1205 Airport Parkway, South Burlington

March Legislative Breakfast

  • When: Monday, March 16 | 8:30 am
  • Where: Dealer.com | 1 Howard Street, Burlington

Thank you to our hosts, The Nine and Dealer.com, for their generous support of our Legislative Breakfast Series!

Register Here
Thank you to our breakfast sponsor

Town Meeting Day is March 3rd 

Town Meeting Day this year falls on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, continuing a 250-year-old Vermont tradition of local democracy. While individual towns have unique ballots, several statewide trends and high-profile local issues define this year’s meetings, ranging from governance changes and infrastructure bonds to social equity and technological regulations.

Major Statewide Themes

  • Education Funding and Enrollment: Budgets have failed in recent years, with one-in-three failing back in 2024, bucking the historical norm. A major point of discussion across the state will be the alarming rate at which school enrollment is dropping, which has led to higher per-pupil costs and increased property taxes. 
  • Delinquency? Cambridge will see a 6% increase in local taxes despite cutting their budget by $300,000 due to a shortfall in the town’s budget due to tax delinquency. Similar stories are coming out of towns such as Granville and could be a warning of a broader hidden liability, as we’ve covered before (LINK).  
    • The Senate Committee on Finance discussed these issues this week, though there is insufficient data aggregation. 
  • The Local Option Tax (LOT) Wave: Under Act 144, towns no longer need a charter change or legislative permission to enact a 1% local tax. Milton, Morristown, and Stowe are among the nearly 20 voting to diversify revenue away from property taxes. Stowe is asking to increase its existing local option tax to 2%.
    • This could also have an outsized importance if the Legislature decides to create a local options tax for road maintenance, which would be a separate, additional tax. 
  • Decline in Bond Requests: Due to significant public concerns about affordability, bond requests in Vermont’s 29 largest municipalities have dropped by 84% from last year, totaling roughly $44 million, down from $275 million. Most of these proposals focus on essential water, sewer, and flood mitigation projects. Read more via VTDigger. 

Key Local Ballot Items

  • Burlington – Charter Changes and Public Safety: The city is proposing a 5-cent tax increase to fund more firefighters and new emergency vehicles. Additionally, voters will decide whether to formally establish the Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (REIB) within the City Charter. This office has six employees focused on this type of work in a state that only has one government employee doing this work. 
  • Brattleboro – Governance Debate: Brattleboro residents face a complex ballot to decide the future of their town meeting. They must choose whether to stick with their unique representative town meeting model, move to an open in-person meeting, or transition to Australian ballot (paper ballot) voting for budgets.
  • Rutland City – Unique Situation, Write-In Mayoral Race: Following the unexpected resignation of Mayor Mike Doenges, Rutland is holding a rare write-in election for mayor. Because the resignation occurred after the deadline for petitions, there are no names on the ballot for this position.
  • Royalton – AI and Crypto Moratorium: Voters will weigh in on a non-binding proposal for a five-year moratorium on the construction of AI and cryptocurrency data centers to study their impact on land and electricity.
  • Winooski – Official Pay Raises: The city is asking voters to approve the first pay raise for the mayor and city council in 25 years. The proposal would increase stipends by 50% to make serving in local government more accessible and equitable.

Significant Infrastructure Projects

Additonal Resources: 

Your guide to Vermont’s Town Meeting Day tradition in 2026 – VPR 

Stuck and Spinning: Mud Season Comes Early for Education

While another blizzard may be on the horizon this Friday, it already feels like “mud season” in Montpelier. Legislators are spinning their wheels, grappling with the same stubborn education issues that have defined the session so far.

Catch Up Quick: Last year, the Legislature barely passed Act 73, and this year they are struggling to finish implementation of its contents, including a foundation formula, second homes tax, and new homestead exemption, which is triggered by new school district maps. 

The Redistricting Debate

Committees are currently weighing two competing maps aimed at drastically consolidating Vermont’s school districts:

  • The Senate Chair’s Proposal: 11 School Districts. 
  • The House Chair’s Proposal: 26–27 districts statewide.
  • Committees have made little progress on the discussion of these maps this week. 
  • WATCH more via WCAX. 

“Next Week, We Start Deciding”

Time is the one variable the Legislature can’t control. With tax season looming, the House Ways and Means Committee is under pressure to finalize the “yield bill” and set next year’s property tax rates.

  • Budget Status: Approximately 90% of districts (around 100–103) have submitted their budgets.
  • The Spending Gap: Current budgets show an average spending increase of 4.3%. While lower than December’s 5.8% projection, taxpayers are still facing an additional 6% increase due to the expiration of last year’s one-time “buy-down.”

The Ways and Means Committee is currently debating how to deploy a $105 million one-time General Fund transfer. 

  • The primary concern is avoiding the “alligator effect” we discussed last week, a massive catch-up spike where taxes could leap by 15% in a single year once one-time funds are exhausted.
  • Lawmakers are considering spreading this surplus over three years to smooth out the impact.
  • Additionally, the Committee is still considering only applying the buy-down to homestead property taxes, or potentially only those income-sensitized. 

Revenue vs. Reform

There is a potential growing philosophical divide between the two chambers:

  • In the House: The search for new revenue continues. Discussions remain active on H.732 and H.621, which would add new income tax brackets for high earners (starting at $200,000) and increase taxes on second homes.
  • In the Senate: While there is still a commitment to creating a second home tax and the committee will discuss “wealth” taxes, the Finance Committee signaled a stronger consensus this week that Vermont doesn’t have a revenue problem—it has a spending and structural problem.



Local Options for Transportation Funding 

A joint hearing this week focused on a new proposal that suggests allowing towns to assess a second 1% local option tax on retail sales, rooms, meals, and/or alcohol specifically for transportation funding, with revenue split between the town (50%), a state municipal transportation fund (40%), and the PILOT fund (10%)

Catch up quick: Vermont faces a $33 million shortfall in state transportation revenue. Because state funds are used to “match” federal dollars, failing to plug this gap would result in the loss of $163 million in federal highway aid.

  • The Gas Tax Problem: Traditional revenue from gas and diesel taxes has only grown 30% since 2000, while construction costs have tripled. Increased vehicle fuel efficiency means more road wear with less tax revenue generated.
  • AOT warns that if funding remains at current levels, the percentage of state “pavement in very poor condition” will skyrocket from 6% today to 48% by 2035.

Budget Cuts Looming: Governor Scott’s FY27 budget proposal includes a $7 million reduction in Town Highway Aid. 

Zoom out: Transportation is often 70–75% of a small town’s municipal budget, and towns are under major road and bridge pressure. Senator Westman, Chair of Senate Transportation, wants a more consistent, formula-based way to direct resources back to towns rather than “a little here, a little there.”

Key features of the proposal: 

  • Voluntary Adoption: Towns could vote to impose this additional 1% tax on any combination of the four current local option tax bases: rooms, meals, alcohol, and sales.
  • Revenue Distribution (The 50-40-10 Model):
    • 50% would be returned directly to the municipality, with no administrative fee.
    • 40% would be deposited into a new Local Option Municipal Transportation Special Fund to provide state transportation aid specifically for municipalities.
    • 10% would go to the PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) fund.
    • Initial Funding: The draft suggests a $3 million one-time appropriation from the PILOT fund surplus to provide immediate grants to town highway programs.

Implications: Currently, about two dozen municipalities have local options taxes, with multiple voting on enacting on Town Meeting Day, and Stowe voting to double it. 

  • Under Act 144, passed relatively recently, towns no longer need a charter change or state legislative approval. Now, a town can adopt the tax simply by a majority vote of the citizens at an annual or special town meeting, whereas before, there was always the chance the legislature would stop such a change. 
  • Additionally, Act 57, passed last year, increased the town’s share of the revenue to 75% and the state’s to 25%.
  • Bottom line: advocates spend a lot of time in Montpelier trying to curtail Vermont’s ever-increasing tax burden; however, legislators are increasingly ceding the power to tax to municipalities. 

Public Safety and Quality of Life 

In this update, we’re going to talk about two distinct groups of people that the system has not handled well, and have created much of what members of the public have experienced in our downtowns. 

  1. Those who repeatedly offend, yet do not get processed through the court system, and 
  2. Those who are a danger to themselves and others yet are not competent to stand trial. 

The Legislature is continuing to discuss both and is making some progress. 

Accountability Docket 

The first group involves who statewide 45% of the state have three or more dockets, 23% have 5 or more. The crux is that these are often not violent crimes, so they weren’t prioritized in the court system. 

Enter the Accountability Court: As we’ve covered before, this created a space in Chittenden County to focus on those offenders who have five or more open dockets and were not being prioritized due to the nonviolent nature of their crimes. 

  • Data shows a substantial increase in resolved dockets and a corresponding decrease in active dockets over the life of the program, demonstrating significant headway in clearing a backlog that has challenged the county’s court system for years.

What the Numbers Say: In total, 79 defendants were resolved, and 702 dockets were closed. 

  • According to final court data provided by the State, approximately 78% of the docket’s cases were resolved during its operation. 
  • Outcomes included 22 incarcerations, 17 probations, 8 probations with treatment court, a few dismissals, as well as assignments to treatment court or alternative community supervision, rulings of incompetency, and other court-directed resolutions.

What’s next? While the special docket in Chittenden County has now concluded, this model will continue on Fridays, and now that the caseload is reduced, those involved think that this one day will be sufficient.

Forensic Facilities 

The Senate Committee on Judiciary is struggling to come to a consensus on a bill that would address defendants found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity. These qualifying conditions can encompass everything from substance misuse, mental health diagnosis, or even traumatic brain injuries. 

Compassionate treatment, away from communities: S.193 would allow defendants found incompetent due to a qualifying condition to stand trial in locked facilities, potentially within prisons operated by the Department of Corrections, for medical treatment to restore their competency. 

  • The proposal envisions a partnership where the Department of Corrections (DOC) manages the secure facility while the Department of Mental Health (DMH) or the broader Agency of Human Services provides clinical oversight.

Constitutional Tensions: Lawmakers remain divided on whether a unit within a prison can truly function as a treatment center. Some argue that high-security settings are inherently prison-like, while others emphasize that the distinction lies in the care provided, such as competency restoration services.

Other Public Safety Related Legislation: 

  • Windham Law Enforcement Pilot: The Senate Government Operations Committee approved S.255, a five-year pilot for a regional law enforcement governance council in Windham County.
  • Incarcerated Identification: The House Committee on Corrections and Institutions is continuing to advance H.549 to expand access to state-issued IDs for individuals upon release from a correctional facility.

The Corrections and Institutions Committee continues work on H.529, which would make changes to, and expand, the state’s pretrial supervision program, which is currently underutilized. Read more via VTDigger.

The Laundry List

Hundreds of hours of committee discussion each week culminate in our advocacy update, so not everything makes it into the overall update; however, we often cover what is left on the cutting-room floor here for our most dedicated readers. 

  • Read previous updates: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5 , and Week 6
  • The Legislature elected retired Air National Guard General Henry “Hank” Harder as the new Adjutant General. Additionally, Rep. John Kascenska and Rep. David Durfee were elected to the Vermont State Colleges System Board of Trustees.
  • Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of John (Jack) Brigham of St. Albans Town to fill the vacant Franklin-8 seat in the House of Representatives. Brigham replaces Casey Toof, who resigned last month to take a role as the City Manager of St. Albans. 
  • Noncompete Agreements: The House Commerce Committee advanced H.205, which would prohibit noncompete agreements for most workers for workers making less than 300% of the minimum wage (~$90,000) and create new guardrails around the agreements, as well as “stay-or-pay” agreements for the repayment of things such as tuition, sign-on bonus, etc. 
  • Flexible Work and Leave Changed Entirely: S.230 was revised to strip out a mandatory flexible work mandate, instead focusing on “safe leave” protections for victims of domestic violence and clarifying leave eligibility for teachers.
  • Ticketing Regulation: The House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development H.512 aims to curb deceptive ticket resale practices by capping resale prices at 110% of the original cost and requiring clear disclosures.
  • The House General and Housing Committee continues to discuss H.772, a high-stakes bill seeking to balance the power dynamic between landlords and tenants, the bill proposes shortening eviction notice timelines (e.g., from 14 days to seven for nonpayment) while adding protections such as rent increase caps and limits on security deposits. The Judiciary warned that the bill’s proposal to make ejectment records confidential would be “highly unusual” and difficult to administer.
  • The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced Thursday that Emily Byrne and Jim Damicis have joined the New England Public Policy Center advisory board. Byrne is the deputy fiscal officer for the Joint Fiscal Office of the Vermont General Assembly. Previously, she worked in various financial roles in the state’s legislative and executive branches. Her work has primarily focused on the state budget and the nexus between state fiscal management and policy implementation.

Hey! You read the whole update. You probably have some thoughts on the content or how we delivered it. Feel free to reach out with those at [email protected]. 

Category: Advocacy Update