Thank you for taking on such an entrenched issue this legislative session. The bill you are working on essentially equates to Act 60, Act 68, and Act 46 all wrapped into one and the fact that you have gotten this far in one year is already impressive.

There is no doubt more work to do to get this bill to the finish line, and tweaks will need to be made next year and in following years. I do not think it is an understatement to say that Vermonters are relying on you. They are relying on you to arrest skyrocketing education costs. They are relying on you to bring stability to a chaotic tax structure. They are relying on you to reverse the declining student outcomes that are jeopardizing the futures of so many young Vermonters.

The Legislature worked late last night, finally concluding that an education reform deal was out of reach. They are coming back in a couple weeks to (hopefully) finish the job.

The road to education reform in Vermont has been long and winding, and we are at another crossroads. Driven by increasingly unaffordable property tax bills, House bill H. 454 attempts to use district consolidation as a cost-saving measure along with a funding formula change meant to contain spending. With no proof that this tactic will actually save money (and plenty that suggests it will not), this legislation heads us dangerously in the wrong direction. We need to look both ways before we go any further down this road.

The most significant event in Montpelier this week is the one that almost didn't happen... Sensing that the education reform bill (H.454) was going to have some challenges on the Senate floor, we issued an action alert on Monday. Those concerns turned out to be well-founded when Senate leadership announced on Tuesday that they were pulling the bill back from the floor.

The bill proposes comprehensive reforms to Vermont’s public education system, focusing on governance, funding, and quality to ensure equitable, sustainable, and efficient education for all students. The bill redirects commissions, establishes task forces, and imagines new systems to achieve these goals, with specific timelines for implementation.

We have a bunch of new bill reviews for you this week, including BOTH the House and Senate's versions of the housing bills and healthcare payment reform.

We are mixing up our format a little bit this week (let us know what you think!). But don't worry, we are still bringing you in-depth coverage on a wide range of topics.

The most important update (in our view) is that the bill dealing with the Ethics Commission's oversight authority passed a key vote in the Senate this week. The Senate's version would delay the implementation of the Ethics Commission's new powers for two years. While we are still disappointed in this outcome, it is better than the House Version which would have removed independent oversight of the Legislative and Judicial branches of state government permanently.

Major initiatives in areas such as education, housing, and health care are nearing the finish line this week as key committee votes take shape. Most notably, the Senate Education Committee advanced the education reform bill in a key vote on Friday. While there is much work left to do, the Senate version (so far) seems better than the House's and the vote keeps the effort on track to kick off the reform process this year.

I testified this week in the Senate Government Operations Committee, urging them not to close the door on independent oversight for the Legislative and Judicial branches of State government. As I am sure you are aware, the House passed a bill that would remove a requirement that these two branches consult with the statewide Ethics Commission; this is a concerning step backwards in the progress we have made in the last decade around Vermont ethics reform.

The bill, H.480, aims to adjust miscellaneous laws related to education including topics such as school safety, virtual learning, Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) grants, Secretary of Education vacancies, education on military related opportunities, cell phone free schools, independent school moratorium, cardiac emergency response plans, reading proficiency aid, tuition benefits for National Guard members, expanded access to Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, and school library policies.