Friends, Governor Scott presented his FY2024 budget to the legislature this week. He largely focused on making strategic investments that draw down the historic amount of federal funds available (infrastructure, Covid, etc.). He indirectly challenged the legislature by proposing nearly $1M for “our Climate Office to develop a real plan, outlining exactly what work needs to be done," implying that the legislature's Climate Action Plan is not a workable solution.

Also, after much testimony in the House Education Committee this week it is becoming clear that there will be a bill to limit which schools can access public tuitioning dollars by leveraging the review and approval process already in place by the Agency of Education and the State Board of Education.

The legislature dove in with both feet this week as committees pushed to get new legislators up to speed. Already, the Senate has re-introduced the Clean Heat Standard (carbon-pricing) bill that Governor Scott vetoed last year. Committees in both the House and the Senate are also already taking testimony on the federal legal action surrounding school choice and public tuitioning.

We (and the legislature) are just getting into it. This week kicked off with the typical rituals we would expect at the start of a new legislative biennium with lawmakers being sworn in, light and fluffy speeches from the floor, and Governor Scott's inaugural address. Now the real work begins.

Over the next several months, new members will work to get up to speed as the legislature tackles big issues like housing, carbon reduction, access to childcare, and paid family leave. These are big and complex policy initiatives that will take time and effort to get right. Campaign for Vermont will be there for all of it.

We are pleased to announce that former legislator, Linda Joy Sullivan, has joined the Campaign for Vermont Board of Directors.

Friends, the election is over. Now what?

Vermonters have voted, we know who will be in Montpelier for the next two years. What happens next? Well, over the next couple months legislators will start preparing for the 2023 legislative session. This means they will start drafting bills, reviewing legislative procedure, and forming alliances. The work being done will shape the priorities and set the agenda for 2023 and beyond.

We hope you are enjoying your summer! After catching our breath from the legislative session we are back at it and already starting to prepare for next year.

S.171 was the next step in years of work in moving Vermont towards having a universal code of ethics. This work started in 2018 when the legislature created the Vermont Ethics Commission that could be an educational resource to lawmakers about ethics issues. While this was a critical step forward, the Commission had no real enforcement powers and even their advisory role was somewhat limited because of the lack of a consistent ethical standard across state government.

This bill created that framework. Campaign for Vermont fought hard to make sure that all three branches of government where covered by this code.

In furthering our vision of an informed and active electorate, we are providing summaries of key bills considered during the 2022 legislative session. H.456 is one of these.

S.234 was billed as an overhaul to Act 250, however most land-use and development experts agreed that it fell well short of holistic reform. That being said, the bill did strive to make improvements in key areas relative to housing, but even on this front it drew criticism from mayors and town administrators across the state.

It even took heat from Miro Weinberger who said it, "would take us backwards and undo one of the most important pro-housing state land use reforms of the past 20 years."

S.100 creates a one-year universal school meal program that provides free breakfast and lunch for all public school students and independent school students who attend on public tuition.