The Legislature's grand education transformation initiative offers a mixed bag of results but does manage to move forward historic changes to the way we raise funds to pay for schools that should introduce better transparency and accountability for taxpayers while also putting downward pressure on spending. Unfortunately the combined effect of governance and finance changes that create a very top-down educational model. 

The reforms brought forward by H.474 relate to revising the candidate nomination process for major parties and making changes to campaign finance rules.

Seth Bongartz, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, drew a new map for education governance reform in response to Governor Scott's plan. The significantly reduces the number of governance bodies in the education system but also preserves inter-state and tuitioning school districts in most instances.

The Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code Act establishes regulations for online services and products that are likely to be accessed by minors. It emphasizes the protection of minors' data and outlines the responsibilities of businesses in handling this information.

The bill, H.129, is meant to simplify the school construction process and aid in a more equitable distribution of funds across the state while lowering the pressure on property tax increases. 

This legislation aims to address issues surrounding the protection of consumer data and the regulation of online surveillance practices. The effort reflects growing concerns about digital privacy rights.

The annual "yield" bill sets the statewide property tax rates for the following year (in this case FY2026).

The bill proposes to exempt the House and Senate Ethics Panels from the requirement to consult with the Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission regarding any complaints referred to them by the Commission. It includes a repeal of a prior ethics oversight legislation and amends the procedure for accepting and referring ethics complaints. A new draft of the bill would also exempt the judicial branch and executive branch attorneys from the purview of the Ethics Commission.

The bill aims to regulate the use of synthetic media (deepfakes) in elections by requiring clear labeling of realistic, deceptive AI-generated content in the 90 days before an election and giving prosecutors and candidates new tools to respond to harmful deepfakes.

Governor Scott gave is budget address on January 28th, proposing a $9B budget for FY2026 with heavy investments in housing and other areas while simultaneously cutting taxes for the most financially vulnerable Vermonters.