Updating Definitions of Lobbying Advertisements (Act 154 / H.686) - Overview & Analysis

Act 154 seeks to expand and modernize the scope of disclosure and identification requirements for lobbying-related advertisements in Vermont by broadening the definitions of "advertisement" and "lobbying," removing session-based timing limitations on disclosure, and updating statutory language to be technology-neutral, affecting lobbying regulation, campaign transparency, and public communications policy.

The Details:

• Adds a definition of "advertising campaign." The law now defines an advertising campaign as advertisements substantially similar in nature, regardless of the media in which they are placed, enabling regulators to treat coordinated, multi-platform messaging efforts as a single campaign for disclosure purposes.

• Retains existing identification requirements that lobbying advertisements intended to influence legislative action must identify the lobbyist, lobbying firm, or lobbyist employer who paid for the ad, along with language stating the ad was paid for, or paid in part, by that entity.
• Retains the session-based timing limitation on disclosure. Despite extensive committee testimony advocating for year-round disclosure requirements — and despite this being characterized as the bill's central purpose during sponsor testimony — the House-passed version still limits the identification requirement to advertisements made "prior to final adjournment of a biennial or adjourned legislative session." The off-session disclosure gap discussed at length in hearings remains unaddressed in the enacted text.

• Adds a clearer advertisement reporting requirement for lobbying advertisements and advertising campaigns costing 1,000 or more. A lobbyist, lobbying firm, or lobbyist employer must file an advertisement report with the Secretary of State for a covered ad or ad campaign at or above that threshold.

• Requires more detailed reporting content. The report must identify the payer, the amount and date of the expenditure, to whom it was paid, and a brief description of the advertisement or campaign, including any bill or issue featured, any specific person featured, and whether the ad expresses support, opposition, or neutrality on a bill, issue, or person.

• Avoids duplicate reporting in some cases. No separate lobbying advertisement report is required if the necessary reports and disclosures have already been filed under Vermont campaign finance law for the same advertisement or advertising campaign.

• Took effect upon passage. The enacted law took effect on passage and was signed by the Governor on June 17, 2026.

Analysis:

Act 154 as enacted achieves a meaningful but narrower set of reforms than what was discussed and advocated for during committee proceedings. The most important substantive gain in the final law is not a broad expansion of what counts as an advertisement, but rather a stronger reporting framework for covered lobbying advertisements and advertising campaigns costing at least 1,000. The law now requires more useful disclosure about what issue, bill, or person is being featured and whether the message expresses support, opposition, or neutrality. That is a real improvement for transparency and gives Vermonters better information about the content and intent of lobbying-related ad spending.

At the same time, the enacted bill is significantly different from the version originally introduced and considered in committee. Earlier drafts would have modernized the definition of "advertisement" by making the media list illustrative rather than exhaustive and by expressly covering mass mailings, robocalls, and paid internet communications. They also proposed replacing "orally or in writing" with the broader term "to communicate." Those changes were meaningful, and their removal substantially narrowed the bill. As enacted, the law keeps the older media definition and the session-based timing limit, which means the off-session disclosure gap and parts of the technology-neutrality concern remain unresolved.

This creates a mixed policy result. On one hand, the bill improves accountability where it applies by requiring more informative disclosure and by treating substantially similar ads as part of a single campaign. On the other hand, it does not reach many of the modern communications tools that increasingly shape public debate, and it does not require year-round identification of lobbying advertisements. For Vermonters concerned with government transparency and accountability, this means the law is better than before, but still incomplete. For smaller organizations and regulated entities, the narrower final scope may reduce compliance burdens compared with earlier drafts, but that narrower scope also limits the public benefit.

In sum, Act 154 takes a positive step toward modernizing Vermont's lobbying disclosure framework, but it falls short of the comprehensive reform that committee testimony suggested was both needed and achievable.

Current Status:

Last updated: 6/24/2026

DISCLAIMER: Generative AI used to assist in the production of this report.